NUEVOS DESARROLLOS EN EL SECTOR FARMACÉUTICO. LAS RESOLUCIONES DE ARCHIVO DE LA CNMC EN "INHALADORES ASTRAZENECA" Y "ABBVIE".

On 20 April 2021, the Spanish Competition Authority (the "CNMC") issued two resolutions of great importance for the pharmaceutical sector. In particular for innovative laboratories that have been have been targeted by the Spanish and European Competition Authorities for several years now. In both resolutions, two pharmaceutical companies, AbbVie and AstraZeneca, were suspected of having abused their alleged dominant position - in the first case by offering exclusionary discounts and, in the second, by setting predatory prices - both with the aim of preventing competitors from entering the market after the lapse of their respective patents. The CNMC concluded, in both cases, not to initiate sanctioning proceedings. At the same time, the CNMC provided long overdue clarifications and guidance on certain key issues: (i) the use of "effective clinical practice" and therapeutic guides in the definition of relevant markets, (ii) the dynamic analysis of market shares and (iii) the explicit acceptance of the "meeting competition" defence when ruling out an abuse of dominant position. Therefore, these rulings set two precedents of notable importance on the application of antitrust rules in the pharmaceutical sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]