Turkey’s Pharmaceutical Sector Inquiry

The pharmaceutical sector has long attracted the scrutiny of antitrust authorities in many jurisdictions, mainly over major patent holders' alleged abuse of market power. As a manifestation of such scrutiny, the European Commission ("Commission") initiated an inquiry into the pharmaceutical sector in January 2008 to find out whether anti-competitive behavior had been responsible for a perceived decline in innovation and delays in the market entry of generic products. At the end of a commotion-filled inquiry lasting about a year and a half, the Commission published its Final Report in July 2009.

During the same period, the Turkish Competition Board ("CB") – influenced by the EC Inquiry and examples from other countries – launched its own inquiry into the pharmaceutical sector with a decision adopted on 20 January 2009. Although the CB has not yet shared official results or interim findings with the public, officials have occasionally presented – on an informal basis