Pharma Cases Show How Brexit Could Hit Alignment Of UK & EU Competition Law

Of the myriad implications of the UK’s departure from the EU in March 2019, the impact on competition law has made less of a splash than many higher-profile areas like trade, regulation and scientific collaboration. But as both the UK and the EU step up their anti-competition activities in the pharmaceutical area, two major cases under investigation give an inkling into how UK and EU competition laws might diverge post-Brexit – and indeed how they might already be doing so.

The two cases in question are the “pay-for-delay” deals on paroxetine agreed by GlaxoSmithKline and a number of generics...