The Treatment of Pharmaceutical Life Cycle Management Strategies In the European Commission’s Pharmaceutical Sector Inquiry Final Report: An American Perspective

In July, 2009, the European Commission issued its long-awaited Pharmaceutical Sector Inquiry Final Report, which claims to examine “the reasons for observed delays in the entry of generic medicines . . . and the apparent decline in innovation as measured by the number of new medicines coming to the market.” This article addresses the Report’s suggestion that originator companies may be guilty of anticompetitive conduct when they patent, and then promote, Second Generation Products in order to compete against generic competitors – i.e., when they engage in common product life cycle management strategies. The conclusion is that the Report has not uncovered conduct, and the EC has not articulated a theory, that could reasonably support any sort of enforcement or remedial action.