A European Union court ruled that the European Medicines Agency can offer access to clinical trial data in a blow to three drugmakers who argued this would hurt their business.

The EMA had announced the release of the documents in response to third-party requests in accordance with European Commission transparency regulations.

Merck and PTC Therapeutics had argued the EMA was not entitled to allow access to the trial data as it would risk their trade secrets, while Pari Pharma attempted to block the release of an EMA committee report on one of its drugs based on similar claims.