Competition: The Multilateral Working Group on pharmaceutical mergers launches a joint public consultation

The Working Group on pharmaceutical mergers, created in March 2021 by the European Commission and several other authorities launched a joint public consultation in the field of pharmaceutical mergers. The Working Group consists of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Competition, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (‘FTC’), the Canadian Competition Bureau, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (‘CMA’), the U.S. Department of Justice (‘DOJ’) and three Offices of Attorneys General. The objective of the Working Group is to share experiences on the assessment of the effects of mergers in the pharmaceutical sector and to identify concrete and actionable steps to enhance the analysis of pharmaceutical mergers. The purpose of the consultation is to gather ideas and views from all interested parties in the field, including health services, doctors, academia, industry, patient groups, consumer organisations and competition experts. These contributions will then feed into a workshop that will be organised later this year. Interested parties can respond to the consultation until 25 June 2021. The FTC will collect and publish all contributions and comments on behalf of and in close co-operation with all members of the Working Group. You will find the public consultation here.