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How To Deal With A Dawn Raid By Competition Authorities

Pharmaceutical firms in Europe are increasingly the target of dawn raids by enforcement authorities in search of evidence of anti-competitive behavior. As John Schmidt and Will Mudge explain, such raids can be highly disruptive and distressing, and companies need to ensure they have robust processes and training in place so that staff can respond appropriately if government agents arrive at their offices unannounced.

Raid
Dawn raids are inherently stressful situations • Source: Shutterstock

Dawn raids on companies by competition enforcement authorities are on the rise, and pharmaceutical firms are increasingly finding themselves the target. This is particularly true in the UK, whose Competition and Markets Authority has a clear focus on investigating the life sciences sector.

About The Authors

John Schmidt and Will Mudge are partners in, respectively, the London and Washington, DC offices of law firm Arnold & Porter. Email: John.Schmidt@arnoldporter.com and Wilson.Mudge@arnoldporter.com.

The CMA’s annual plan for 2018/19 specifically mentions a focus on “tackling issues that go to the heart of trust in markets” including “breaches of competition law in the supply...

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