Novartis: under investigation for patent use
(CercleFinance.com) - On Thursday Novartis confirmed that it has been informed of an investigation by the Swiss Competition Commission (COMCO) into whether the company illegally used one of its patents to protect itself from competition.
On its website, the Swiss competition authority announced this morning that it had opened an investigation against an unnamed Swiss pharmaceutical company.
COMCO says it has conducted searches at the company's premises, a fact confirmed by Novartis, which says it has opened the doors of its Basel offices to the agency's teams.
According to the commission, Novartis sought to protect its drug for the treatment of skin diseases by blocking competing medicines.
Its investigation will have to determine whether this is a case of "patent blocking", which could constitute a possible abuse of a dominant position.
By way of background, a "blocking patent" aims to prevent competitors from adding value to their research by protecting knowledge that is no longer patentable.
COMCO says it is cooperating with the European Commission under the bilateral agreement that has existed between the European Union and Switzerland in the area of competition law since 2014.
Novartis points out that the opening of an investigation in no way presages the finding of wrongdoing.
The group, which says it is cooperating fully with the investigators, says it does not wish to comment further at this time.
However, the impact seems limited - the share price is pretty flat following these announcements, albeit slightly underperforming the Swiss market (+0.6%).
Copyright (c) 2022 CercleFinance.com. All rights reserved.
On its website, the Swiss competition authority announced this morning that it had opened an investigation against an unnamed Swiss pharmaceutical company.
COMCO says it has conducted searches at the company's premises, a fact confirmed by Novartis, which says it has opened the doors of its Basel offices to the agency's teams.
According to the commission, Novartis sought to protect its drug for the treatment of skin diseases by blocking competing medicines.
Its investigation will have to determine whether this is a case of "patent blocking", which could constitute a possible abuse of a dominant position.
By way of background, a "blocking patent" aims to prevent competitors from adding value to their research by protecting knowledge that is no longer patentable.
COMCO says it is cooperating with the European Commission under the bilateral agreement that has existed between the European Union and Switzerland in the area of competition law since 2014.
Novartis points out that the opening of an investigation in no way presages the finding of wrongdoing.
The group, which says it is cooperating fully with the investigators, says it does not wish to comment further at this time.
However, the impact seems limited - the share price is pretty flat following these announcements, albeit slightly underperforming the Swiss market (+0.6%).
Copyright (c) 2022 CercleFinance.com. All rights reserved.