The case AstraZeneca – The worldwide pharmaceutical company condemned by the ECJ for abuse of a dominant position

By a judgment dated 6 December 2012 (C-457/10), the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) has confirmed the judgment of the General Court of the European Union (TEU), condemning the wellknown pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca for abusing its dominant position in relation to producers of generics. The question concerned the marketing of a pharmaceutical product of AstraZeneca, whose active ingredient was protected by a patent. In particular, the Court found that AstraZeneca had communicated to the patent offices of some Member States deliberately misleading statements in order to obtain or retain undue supplementary protection certificates (SPC) and had also asked for the revocation of marketing authorizations (MA) of the drug in question in some Member States in order to delay and hamper the marketing of generic pharmaceutical products, as well as to prevent parallel imports. The ECJ therefore condemned the worldwide pharmaceutical company for abuse of dominant position, since the same had acted in concrete in such a way as to produce the alteration of market conditions through the use of different means from those of a competition based on merit.


12/21/2012 | Pharmaceuticals