Home  Media Press releases 2003
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| 31 July 2003 | 2003-07-31T00:00:00.0000000+01:00 |
| ASTRAZENECA REFUTES PRELIMINARY FINDINGS OF EC OMEPRAZOLE INVESTIGATION
AstraZeneca confirms that the European Commission has served a ‘Statement of Objections’ on the company, stating that in the Commission’s preliminary view AstraZeneca abused its dominant position with omeprazole (‘Losec’) in a number of European countries and that this would constitute an infringement of Article 82 of the EU Treaty. AstraZeneca intends to respond to the Statement and the company vigorously refutes any wrongdoing. In particular AstraZeneca will deny that it made misrepresentations before national patent offices or that it misused the rules and procedures applied by national medicines agencies. | A Statement of Objections does not represent the Commission’s final decision. Any final adverse decision by the Commission is appealable to the European Courts (Court of First Instance and then the European Court of Justice). The whole process could take several years to reach a conclusion. AstraZeneca notes that these allegations represent a novel application of Article 82.
AstraZeneca’s policy is to comply with all applicable laws, including Competition Laws, and this policy is taken very seriously by the company and its employees.
At this time, AstraZeneca has nothing further to add, except that it is confident the allegations made by the Commission should be rejected as groundless. In any event, AstraZeneca does not believe this issue will result in material exposure for the Group.
Media Enquiries:
Chris Major, +44 (0) 207 304 5028
Emily Denney, +44 (0) 207 304 5034
Investor Relations:
Mina Blair-Robinson, +44 (0) 207 304 5084
Jonathan Hunt, +44 (0) 207 304 5087
Background
In February 2000, representatives of the European Commission visited AstraZeneca’s offices in London and in Södertälje, seeking information in connection with omeprazole. The Commission's enquiry related to AstraZeneca’s defence of its intellectual property and other rights relating to omeprazole.
AstraZeneca had been pursuing a number of legal and other commercial steps which were quite properly designed to protect its hard won franchise relating to omeprazole (‘Losec’). AstraZeneca has no hesitation in vigorously defending its legitimate legal interests.
AstraZeneca has been informed that the Commission’s investigation commenced as a result of a complaint by a third party which was the subject of legal proceedings brought by AstraZeneca for patent infringements in various countries which involved attempts to 'jump the gun' by marketing generic omeprazole before patent expiry and gain an improper commercial advantage. AstraZeneca has been co-operating fully with the Commission in its investigation.
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