Parallel trade in the European pharmaceutical sector is widespread. To deal with parallel trade, pharmaceutical companies operating in the EU usually respond by adopting dual pricing schemes and allocation systems. To a certain extent, such schemes and systems are supported by European pharmaceuticals regulation. Behaviour such as dual pricing schemes and supply allocation systems have been the subject of legal dispute for some years. Another issue that continues to be the subject of legal dispute concerns the repackaging of pharmaceuticals that have been parallel imported. This chapter considers recent case law on these issues and summarises any conclusions that can be drawn.

This article is part of the PLC multi-jurisdictional guide to life sciences. For a full list of jurisdictional Q&As visit www.practicallaw.com/lifesciences-mjg.