UK Tribunal Upholds Fine For Pay For Delay Pharma Deals

The UK’s Competition Appeal Tribunal has upheld the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) decision that GlaxoSmithKline and some generic suppliers of the anti-depressant paroxetine broke competition law. The Competition Appeal Tribunal (Tribunal) has, however, imposed reduced fines of £27.1 million (US$38.26 million) on the firms involved.

Paroxetine is relied on by patients to relieve symptoms of depression. GlaxoSmithKline had agreed to make payments totalling £50 million (US$70.59 million) to other generic suppliers of paroxetine, including Generics Limited and Alpharma Limited, in settlement of patent litigation.

In a decision issued in 2016, the CMA found that these payments were aimed at delaying the potential entry of these competitors supplying generic medicines into the UK market and were unlawful. The CMA imposed fines totalling £44.99 million (US$63.52 million) on the companies directly involved in the infringements – and, where relevant, on their parent companies or successors to these companies.

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