Pharmaceutical Market Europe • March 2022 • 8
NEWS
London High Court rules in favour of NHS in Servier drug dispute
The High Court in London has ruled against Servier after the pharma company made attempts to limit damages it owes for competition law infringements in the sale and supply of a widely prescribed blood pressure treatment.
Mr Justice Roth’s judgement is a vital turning point in The Secretary of State for Health and Another v Servier Laboratories Limited and Others, a case that has been running for 11 years.
The European Commission and the General Court have already found that Servier had breached competition law by agreeing with providers to delay making cheaper versions of its drug Coversyl (perindopril) available. The knock-on effect of this agreement was that the NHS was charged up to £250m for a generic version of the drug.
Servier contended that damages to the NHS should be reduced because the NHS should have taken appropriate steps to avoid buying its more expensive product.
The judge rejected this argument, saying: “…a disinterested observer might find it surprising that such arguments would, or could, be advanced by a defendant found to have committed a very serious infringement of competition law”. A full trial to decide the level and degree of losses sustained by the NHS will follow.
Parkinson’s UK and Domainex announce new collaboration
A new collaboration between Parkinson’s UK and Domainex has been announced, with a goal of slowing the progression of Parkinson’s disease by focusing on the development of small molecule treatments targeting neuroinflammation.
Parkinson’s UK has been working on research into new small molecules that target a protein found on the surface of microglia – the main type of immune cells in the brain which become overactive in the disease.
Although inflammation is key to the body’s line of defence against infections and toxins, Parkinson’s disease produces an excessive level of chronic inflammation in the brain. It is understood that this may be the cause of brain cell damage for people diagnosed with the condition.
The charity plans to invest up to £3m in the project from its drug development branch, Parkinson’s Virtual Biotech. Virtual Biotech provides funding for research projects with scientific potential to help those living with Parkinson’s.
As part of the joint project, Domainex will conduct integrated drug discovery with the end goal of developing a treatment that could slow or stop the progression of Parkinson’s.
Parkinson’s UK is the UK’s leading charitable investor in Parkinson’s research in Europe. Its partnership with Domainex is expected last for two and a half years.
EMA announces DARWIN EU Coordination Centre
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has announced the development of a new Coordination Centre, to be known as the Data Analysis and Real World Interrogation Network (DARWIN EU).
The DARWIN EU was introduced during a multi-stakeholder webinar held by the EMA on 24 February 2022, which included a Q&A session.
The DARWIN EU will give the EMA and other EU member states access to reliable, real-world evidence about diseases, patient populations and the use, safety and effectiveness of medicines – including vaccines – throughout their life cycle. In this way, the DARWIN EU will offer a vital resource in combatting future healthcare pandemics and crises.
Patients, healthcare professionals and health technology regulators will benefit from the development, regulation and surveillance of new medicines, with patients being able to access innovative treatments more quickly due to the availability of trusted real-world evidence.
The EMA is teaming up with the Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam to establish the new Coordination Centre, as part of a contract agreed in June 2021.
DARWIN EU will also be a pathfinder for the European Health Data Space (EHDS). By connecting to the EHDS services, it will allow the use of EHDS in the process of medicine regulation in Europe.