EU General Court backs Lundbeck fine in pay-for-delay case

The EU General Court has backed the European Commission’s decision to fine pharma company Lundbeck and a number of generic producers.

According to the commission, Lundbeck and the generic companies breached competition law by agreeing to delay market entry of generic versions of citalopram, a treatment for depression.

Lundbeck was fined a total sum of €93.8 million ($105 million), while the generic companies involved in the case were charged a total of €52.2 million. This ruling was upheld by the General Court.

According to the commission, Lundbeck owned patents which provided limited protection after its basic patent for the citalopram molecule had expired, and at this time generic producers of the drug should have had the possibility to enter the market.

But instead of competing with the generic companies, Lundbeck and the generic manufacturers, including Sun Pharma, Arrow, Generics UK, Merck and Xellia, entered into a series of patent settlement agreements under which the generics agreed to delay their market entry in exchange for financial compensation.

Lundbeck and the generic companies appealed against the commission’s decision to the General Court, arguing that the commission committed a number of errors in law and in the assessment of the facts.