Swiss watchdog investigates Novartis over patent use
Authority carries out dawn raid at Novartis’ premises | Probe focuses on the alleged unlawful use of a skincare patent to bar competition
The Swiss Competition Commission (COMCO) has initiated an investigation of Novartis over its possible unlawful use of a patent to reduce competitive pressure.
While COMCO did not name the company under investigation in its announcement, Novartis itself confirmed that it was under investigation.
According to COMCO, Novartis has “allegedly attempted to protect its drug for the treatment of skin diseases against competing products by using one of its patents to initiate litigation proceedings”.
COMCO’s investigation aims to determine whether the alleged behaviour constitutes the use of a so-called blocking patent. Under the Swiss Cartel Act, use of a blocking patent might amount to an unlawful abuse of an allegedly dominant position.
As part of the investigation, COMCO conducted a dawn raid at Novartis’ premises on 13 September.
Novartis confirmed that COMCO, in collaboration with the European Commission, had begun an investigation into the assertion of a patent in the field of dermatology treatments.
“The opening of an investigation does not imply any finding of wrongdoing or any financial impact. Novartis is fully cooperating with the authorities and is confident to clarify the legitimacy of its position. As this is an ongoing investigation in its early stages, we will not comment further at this point in time,” said Novartis.
In October 2021, Novartis’ generics unit Sandoz agreed to pay $185 million—alongside generic makers Taro Pharmaceuticals and Apotex Corporation—to resolve alleged violations of the US False Claims Act arising from conspiracies to fix the price of various generic drugs.
At the time, the US government alleged that between 2013 and 2015, all three companies paid and received compensation through arrangements on price, supply and allocation of customers with other pharmaceutical manufacturers for certain generic drugs.
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