Parallel trading and European competition law

One of the issues of greatest concern to thepharmaceutical and biotechnology industriesin Europe is that of parallel trading and theability of manufacturers to control thistrading by contractual and other means. Thereasons for the boom in parallel trading inpharmaceuticals in the European Union areeasy to understand – most prescriptiondrugs are subject to significant pricedifferences between member states as theyare paid for by national health or insuranceschemes, effectively creating differentmarkets within what is supposed to be asingle market.