In January 2024, the EC published a report providing an overview of the enforcement of EU antitrust and merger rules between 2018 and 2022. Then in October 2024, the EC fined Teva 462.6 million euros for allegedly abusing its dominant position to delay competition to its blockbuster multiple sclerosis pharmaceutical, Copaxone. The ruling, which Teva is appealing, and the EC’s enforcement report, provide valuable insights into the enforcement cadence of Europe’s antitrust authorities and raises important questions as to the boundary between legitimate and illegal means of competition in the pharmaceutical sector.

• Reviewing the core principles and past cases that have interpreted “abuse of dominant position” under Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of European Union and “misuse” of the patent system
  • E.g., the January 2024 report published by the EC
• Analysing the facts of the Teva case and identifying the two practices the EC considered as delaying competition
  • Unpacking the EC’s finding that Teva “artificially” extended its patent protection for Copaxone through playing “the divisionals game”
  • Dissecting the EC’s finding that Teva engaged in exclusionary disparagement of a competing glatiramer acetate
• Crafting divisional strategies aligned with today’s competition law and anti-trust climate