EU Court of Justice Upholds GSK’s $60 Million Pay-For-Delay Fines

Europe’s highest court has upheld a $60 million fine imposed on GlaxoSmithKline by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).

CMA imposed the fine in 2016 after finding that GSK paid more than £50 million ($66 million) to generic drugmakers to delay generic competition for the antidepressant paroxetine. GSK appealed the fine on the grounds that the patent settlements were not anticompetitive.

In a January 30 ruling, the European Court of Justice clarified when a settlement agreement between a patent holder and generic manufacturers breaks anticompetitive law. The court found that settlements are not always anticompetitive but their impacts on competition need to be assessed.