Serbian lawyer Aleksandra Simic has been appointed to the role of Head Ethics Risk and Compliance iCEE at Novartis, based in Switzerland.

An amendment to the Medicines Thrift Act XCVIII of 2006, which came into effect in early 2022, has effectively eliminated what was fast becoming a booming market in the home delivery of over-the-counter (OTC) medicinal products and medical aids.

The Turkish Competition Board (“Board”) has recently assessed the allegations that Allergan Ilaclari Ticaret A.S. (“Allergan”) engaged in discriminatory conduct and abused its dominant position by way of refusal to supply in its preliminary investigation decision. The complainant, Denge Ecza Deposu Ticaret A.S. (“Denge”), alleged that Allergan supplied some of its pharmaceutical products only to certain warehouses, rejected Denge’s request to work with Allergan and hindered Denge’s activities by restricting its access to Allergan’s products. The Board’s decision is remarkable as it assesses the allegations in detail under both Article 4 (anticompetitive agreements) and Article 6 (abuse of dominant position) of Law No. 4054 on the Protection of Competition (“Law No. 4054”) by discussing the competition literature on certain concepts such as indispensability and essential facilities doctrine and making references to the decisional practice in the European Union.

A cola drink bought in the Czech Republic should be the same as one bought in Germany, right? Well from May 2021, this is required by an amendment to the Food Act which has codified a ban on dual quality food into the Czech legal system.

Tsvetkova Bebov Komarevski has changed its name to Tsvetkova Bebov & Partners, following the departure of Ilya Komarevski. Aside from the new name, the firm announced that Victoria Tzonkova and Damyan Leshev were elevated to Partner, while Eleonora Mateina was appointed to Head of Competition and Pharmaceuticals. 

The Hungarian State unlawfully collected a sizeable amount of VAT from pharmaceutical companies ruled the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in a recent preliminary ruling procedure, initiated by Boehringer Ingelheim against the Hungarian tax authority.