The COMCO: The Swiss Competition Commission has opened an investigation against a pharmaceutical giant from the Rhine to verify whether it has used one of its patents on a medicine to illegally protect itself from 
competitors. On Tuesday (September 13), searches were carried out at the Basel headquarters.
According to COMCO, the company sought to protect its own medicinal product for the treatment of skin diseases from competition from products from other operators. Prosecutors will need to investigate whether this is a case of using a so-called blocking patent, which could be regarded as an abuse of a dominant position under the cartel law.
In the context of this matter, the COMCO makes it known that it has cooperated with the European Commission (which is also the competition supervisory authority in the EU). The cooperation is based on the bilateral agreement between Bern and Brussels on the application of their respective competition laws, which has been in force since 2014.
The name of the entity concerned emerged from a brief note from Novartis, in which the company confirms the ongoing proceedings. According to the company, the opening of the investigation does not mean that wrongdoing has been ascertained or that there are financial implications. A spokesman also told the AWP agency that the searches were limited to offices in the Rhine city. The case is not commented further, given that it is an open file.
Source: Corriere del Ticino – 15 September 2022
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