Antitrust regulators from the European Union are investigating a suspected agreement between Johnson & Johnson and Novartis to delay the sale of a generic painkiller in the Netherlands.

The European Commission has expressed a concern that contractual agreements may have blocked the sale of generic fentanyl patches, constituting a breach of EU antitrust rules.

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EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said that paying a competitor to stay out of the market is a restriction of competition that the Commission will not tolerate.

Stefan Gijssels, a spokesman for Johnson & Johnson’s European arm Janssen, said that the company was cooperating fully.

"The investigation focuses on contractual arrangements with Hexal/Sandoz concerning fentanyl patches in the Netherlands in the period 2005-2006," he added.

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Pharmaceutical Technology Excellence Awards - Nominations Closed

Nominations are now closed for the Pharmaceutical Technology Excellence Awards. A big thanks to all the organisations that entered – your response has been outstanding, showcasing exceptional innovation, leadership, and impact.

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Imagene’s Oncology Intelligence (OI) Suite has won the Innovation Award for Precision Oncology, for transforming how pharma designs and runs oncology trials. From AI-driven biomarker discovery to smarter patient stratification, see how Imagene is cutting time, cost and risk in cancer drug development.

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