After much discussion, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) recently issued a statement to clarify its stand on collaborations among medicine manufacturers. Specifically, it sought to reassure companies that competition law will not be a barrier to provision of innovative and potentially essential combination therapies to patients under the care of the National Health Service (NHS).
The statement from CMA represents a sensitive approach to the complex issue of collaboration among rival entities, and a recognition of the crucial importance for these medicines which are often critical in saving lives. This statement was released to provide a measure of comfort to participants in the medical manufacturing sector who may have been uncertain about potential regulatory implications of collaborative efforts intended to bring combination therapies to market.
This also signifies an active step on the part of the UK’s competition regulator to support the efficient and effective delivery of healthcare. By publishing this guidance, the CMA is signalling its understanding of, and willingness to support, the unique circumstances that often surround the creation and delivery of life-saving combination therapies in the healthcare sector.
As such, collaborations for provision of combination therapies to NHS patients, when done in the spirit of boosting public health outcomes, is expected to be permissible under competition law. The CMA’s recent statement stresses its commitment to this aim and offers reassurance to manufacturers that, under these circumstances, competition law needn’t necessarily be a hurdle to the provision of essential treatments.
More details of the guidance provided by the CMA can be found in the firm’s practical guide.