EU Commission told to review decision on GlaxoSmithKline drug pricing system

The European Court of Justice in Luxembourg, the European Union's highest court, on October 6, ruled that the European Commission must decide again whether UK drug giant GlaxoSmithKline' s pricing policy in Spain can be exempted from anti-trust rules. The Commission previously declared that GSK's policy of charging two prices in Spain - one for products used on the domestic market and a higher one for exported drugs - hindered competition in the EU.

The judgment follows an earlier ruling of the same court last fall to the effect that GSK could refuse to supply Greek parallel traders where their orders were not in line with regular commercial practice - even where the UK firm was a dominant supplier of the drug in question."

"Today's judgment by the European Court in favor of GSK, and against the European Commission and a group of Spanish wholesalers, provides a further indication that Europe's highest court is not totally devoid of sympathy for Big Pharma in its quest to curb losses from parallel trade in pharmaceuticals,' comments Edward Miller, partner in the competition team at international law firm Reed Smith