Press Release: Antitrust: Commission launches second monitoring exercise of patent settlements in pharma sector

The European Commission has addressed information requests to selected pharmaceutical companies, asking them to submit copies of their patent settlement agreements concluded in the European Economic Area (EEA) in 2010 between originator and generic companies. This is the second monitoring exercise following the Commission's competition sector inquiry of 2009 that pointed to significant risks for European consumers stemming from certain types of patent settlements.