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ARTICLE · 12 DECEMBER 2014

Made In Canada Approach To "Pay For Delay": Bureau At Odds With US Approach

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AstraZeneca Plc’s payment to Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd. to delay a generic version of heartburn medication Nexium was not unreasonably anticompetitive.

CanadaAntitrust/Competition Law
Imran Ahmad
Imran Ahmad
Christopher Hersh
Christopher Hersh
Emily Larose
Emily Larose
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Last week, a US Federal Court ruled that AstraZeneca Plc’s payment to Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd. to delay a generic version of heartburn medication Nexium was not unreasonably anticompetitive.

The decision confirmed the approach taken by the US Supreme Court in FTC v. Actavis, Inc.  that reverse-payment settlements (also known as “pay-for-delay” agreements) are subject to a “rule of reason” analysis (as opposed to being per se conspiracies). This is in contrast to the Canadian enforcement approach recently outlined by the Commissioner of Competition (the “Commissioner”), which left the door open to the application of the per se criminal conspiracy provision of the Competition Act of reverse-payment settlements.

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