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Competition Council: Pharmaceutical companies allowed to cooperate so as to prevent disruptions in medicines supply
The Competition Council gets in line with the European Commission's current policy of relaxation of the competition rules for pharmaceutical companies, the Competition watchdog said in a Monday release.
According to the cited source, the European Commission has published a Temporary Framework Communication allowing agreements and exchanges of information between pharmaceutical companies in order to prevent disruptions in the supply of medicines essential in treating COVID 19 patients.
"Tackling these exceptional shocks and avoiding shortages in a timely manner may require the swift coordination of companies in order to overcome, or at least to mitigate, the effects of the crisis to the ultimate benefit of citizens. This might in turn require either switching or up-scaling production in the most efficient way. For example, companies may need to coordinate on production stock management and potentially distribution so that not all undertakings focus on one or a few medicines, while others remain in under-production. Such coordination would be contrary to antitrust rules in normal circumstances. But in the context of a pandemic like the coronavirus outbreak, such coordination can, with appropriate safeguards, bring important benefits to citizens," the Communication states.
It also notes that in the current circumstances, a temporary cooperation among pharmaceutical producers appears justifiable under EU antitrust law, in view of its objective and the safeguards put in place to avoid anticompetitive concerns and as long as it remains within the scope communicated to the Commission.
The companies are responsible for assessing themselves the legality of their agreements and practices, but the Commission will continue to closely and actively monitor relevant market developments to detect undertakings which take advantage of the current situation to breach EU antitrust law, either by engaging in anti-competitive agreements or abusing their dominant position, the Communication reads.