CompLaw: Pharma

Hear directly from Paul Csiszár, Director “Basic Industries, Manufacturing and Agriculture”, DG Competition, European Commission on the current priorities in the sector and ask your burning questions during the Q&A.

Then join the 'Enforcement: Review of National Level Developments' session to hear from the NCAs on their recent investigations. 

Review the Horizontal Block Exemption Regulations and revised Horizontal Guidelines and their practical implications for the pharma sector, including co-promotion and co-marketing, joint R&D, joint purchasing, information exchange and sustainability. Then discuss the CMA’s consultation on the rules applicable to collaborations and information exchange between competitors.

Examine the EC’s consultation on the formal guidelines on the application of Article 102 TFEU to exclusionary abuses of dominance and, gain an update on the recent cases including Leadiant, CMA's decision against Pfizer and Flynn, and the Spanish Supreme Court’s judgement on the Pfizer dual-pricing case. Consider what is legitimate in discounts and rebates as understand the competition law concerns in cost-containment strategies. 

Analyse how the enforcers are using their new tools to facilitate a more interventionist approach, including the use of Article 22 and its implications for merger control strategy, the Towercast judgement, and ex-post reviews. 

Join a new session focusing specifically on foreign direct investment and Foreign Subsidies Regulation, and how they apply to the pharma sector. 

Discuss parallel trade developments across Europe as well as refusal to supply, direct to pharmacy models and competition law considerations relating to tensions in the supply chain and analyse what these mean for distribution strategies.

Gain an update on recent investigations including Teva and Novartis, get a review of national-level developments including the Spanish authority's fines on Merck and understand how the enforcers are approaching biologics and biosimilars. Share practical strategies to address end of patent life, divisional game and patent pooling.