How to reconcile the advertising of medicinal products with the need to safeguard public health in the EU

摘要

The Court of Justice of the European Union recently published its long awaited rulings in the MSD Sharp & Dohme and Novo Nordisk cases. Both positive rulings for the pharmaceutical industry provide valuable insight into how the legal framework relating to the advertising of medicinal products can be reconciled with the need to safeguard public health and provide some important clarifications on what communications are deemed acceptable "advertising". MSD Sharp & Dohme v Merkle This case, referred to the CJEU by the German court, provides another opportunity for the CJEU to further clarify the criteria to take into account in determining whether a communication qualifies as "advertising" or rather as "objective information" for the purposes of the application of Article 88(1 )(a) of Directive 2001/83/EC on human medicinal products, as amended (thereafter; the "directive"), which prohibits advertising to the general public of prescription only medicines.