In recent years, the pharmaceutical sector has become a major flashpoint for competition law enforcement around the world. Pay-for-delay agreements, conflicts between regulatory and competition obligations, and the enforcement of IP rights are just a few of the issues confronting competition specialists in and around the pharmaceutical industry today. At GCR Live: Pharmaceuticals and Competition, leading figures from industry, government and private practice will provide delegates with incisive analysis on the major competition issues facing the pharmaceutical sector and will look at how legal practice is likely to develop in the coming years.

Chaired by Stephen Kon, partner, SJ Berwin LLP.

Speakers:

• Cameron Firth, SJ Berwin LLP
• Gerald Kamstra, Bird and Bird LLP
• Benoit Durand, RBB Economics
• Gavin Robert, Linklaters LLP
• Paula Riedel, Linklaters LLP
• Jonathan Tickner, Peters & Peters LLP
• Mélanie Thill-Tayara, Norton Rose LLP
• Marleen Van Kerckhove, Arnold & Porter LLP
• Jacob Westin, GlaxoSmithKline
• Geoffrey Steadman, UK's Office of Fair Trading
• Pierre Regibeau, Academic Associate, Charles River Associates
• Ingrid Vandenborre, Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom
• Hugh Hollman, Jones Day
• Blaz Visnar, European Commission
• Nicola Holmes, Eversheds

09.00 Chairman’s welcome
Stephen Kon, partner, SJ Berwin LLP

09.10 Keynote address
Blaž Visnar, European Commission

09.35 Settlement agreements
• EU perspective: DG Comp’s Patent Monitoring Report; authorised generics
• US perspective: legal framework: ANDA, exclusivity, notification regime; DoJ and FTC approach; legislative proposals
• Damages exposure: national health authorities, originators and generic companies
• Economist’s perspective
• Panel discussion

Hugh Hollman, partner, Jones Day
Paula Riedel, partner, Linklaters LLP
Benoit Durand, economist, RBB Economics
Jonathan Tickner, partner, Peters & Peters LLP

11.15 Coffee

11.35 IP rights

Application for and exercise of IP rights: complying with competition law obligations

• AstraZeneca
• An IP lawyer’s perspective: key issues likely to arise when filing a patent application; when seeking to enforce a patent
• Role of competition law in IP matters: are authorities bound by competition rules when exercising their statutory functions?

Cameron Firth, partner, SJ Berwin LLP
Gerry Kamstra, partner, Bird & Bird LLP
Jacob Westin, assistant general counsel, GlaxoSmithKline

13.00 Lunch

14.10 Competition/IP interface in the pharmaceutical industry: workshop
• Case studies

Stephen Kon, partner, SJ Berwin LLP
Gerry Kamstra, partner, Bird & Bird LLP
Jacob Westin, assistant general counsel, GlaxoSmithKline
Gavin Robert, partner Linklaters LLP

15.10 Tea

15.30 Deregistration/dealings with regulatory authorities: complying with competition law obligations

• Regulatory authorities and competition law:
  • AstraZeneca judgment - General Court’s findings and update on status of appeal
  • Are regulatory authorities bound by competition law when exercising statutory functions?
• Life cycle management: when should originator companies help generic competitors?
  • Reckitt Benckiser decision
  • French cases on steps taken to limit generic entry
  • Economist’s perspective

Mélanie Thill-Tayara, partner, Norton Rose LLP
Marleen Van Kerckhove, partner, Arnold & Porter LLP
Geoffrey Steadman, UK’s Office of Fair Trading
Nicola Holmes, Eversheds

16.50 Roundtable
• Cases in the pipeline
• Approach in other member states
• Life cycle management v anti-competitive behaviour
• Deregistration: when might it be abusive?

Mélanie Thill-Tayara, partner, Norton Rose LLP
Marleen Van Kerckhove, partner, Arnold & Porter LLP
Geoffrey Steadman, UK’s Office of Fair Trading
Pierre Regibeau, economist, University of Essex (Charles River Associates)
Ingrid Vandenborre, partner, Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom

17.45 Chairman’s summing up and closing