COURT OF JUSTICE OF THE EU / Competition

Court finds that Roche-Novartis agreement could be described as restriction of competition 'by item'

Brussels, 23/01/2018 (Agence Europe)

The agreement between the pharmaceutical groups Roche and Novartis seeking to reduce ophthalmological use of the drug Avastin and increase that of Lucentis could constitute a competition restriction 'by item', the Court of Justice of the EU found in a judgment returned on Tuesday 23 January (C-179/16).

Avastin and Lucentis are both medicines authorised by the European Commission and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and produced by the company Genentech, which belongs to the Roche group,...