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ARTICLE · 04 JANUARY 2023

Parallel Importation Of Pharmaceuticals – When Is Repackaging Necessary?

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Repackaging of pharmaceutical products by parallel importers is a long debated subject. The above question was reconsidered in a set of judgements by the CJEU in November this year...

United KingdomIntellectual Property
Lauren Somers
Lauren Somers
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Repackaging of pharmaceutical products by parallel importers is a long debated subject. The above question was reconsidered in a set of judgements by the CJEU in November this year (Novartis Pharma GmbH v Abacus Medicine A/S (C 147/20), Bayer Intellectual Property GmbH v kohlpharma GmbH (C 204/20) and Merck Sharp & Dohme BV and others v Abacus Medicine A/S and others (C 147/20)) prompted by a new EU Regulation on the packaging of medicinal products.

New authenticating requirements

Since 2019, as a result of the implementation of a new EU Regulation, all medicinal products for human use in the EU are required to have two safety features:-

  1. a unique identifier (typically a barcode or QR code) that indicates the source of the goods, and

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