EU fines world’s largest generic drugmaker Teva for hindering competition

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The European Commission has fined Teva, the world’s largest generic drugmaker, €462.6mn for hindering competition to its blockbuster multiple sclerosis medicine Copaxone.

The commission said on Thursday that Teva had abused its “dominant position” to “artificially” extend patent protection of Copaxone and “systematically spread misleading information about a competing product to hinder its market entry and uptake”.

It first charged Teva with anti-competitive practices in relation to the drug in 2022.

Margrethe Vestager, the EU’s head of competition policy, said: “Today’s decision to impose an antitrust fine on Teva for disparagement and misuse of the patent system reaffirms the commission’s commitment to competition enforcement in the pharmaceutical sector.”

She added that commission action “contributes to keeping drugs affordable, preserving choice of treatment and fostering innovation, to the benefit of EU patients and national healthcare systems”.

The commission said Teva had abused its market power in multiple sclerosis medicine in Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain.

It also said that Teva misused patent procedures and targeted doctors and authorities in charge of pricing and reimbursement of medicines with misinformation about the “safety, efficacy and therapeutic equivalence” of a rival drug in order to delay competition and prolong the exclusivity of Copaxone.

Teva responded on Thursday that it was “deeply disappointed” by the decision and would “vigorously defend its position on appeal”.

“Teva conducts its business lawfully and ethically and has been a strong partner to Europe, its patients, economy and healthcare systems.”

This is not the first time Teva has received a fine in the EU. In 2020, the pharmaceutical group and its former rival Cephalon were jointly fined €60.5mn for conspiring to fix the price of sleep disorder drug modafinil.

Outside the EU, it has also faced penalties and probes. In 2015, antitrust investigators in the US fined the company $1.2bn over anti-competitive practice in relation to modafinil. In 2020 it faced charges of price fixing on generic drugs in the US, including a common cholesterol medicine.