AbbVie, Intermune and the EMA – Court cases and motivations
22nd November 2013
Back in April 2013, the European Court issued injunctions against the European Medicines Agency (EMA) after the pharmaceutical companies AbbVie and Intermune challenged the Agency’s decisions to grant access to clinical study reports from clinical trials of drugs from each of those companies. The effect of this spilled over leading to other researchers receiving letters telling them the EMA could not release documents it holds from clinical trials of medicines currently used in Europe. Since then a number of organisations have applied to support the EMA in its ongoing court case. In September 2013 the European consumer organisation BEUC, which represents 41 consumer groups across the EU, was given permission to support the EMA. Jim Murray a former director of the European consumer organisation BEUC wrote about this case and its implications in the BMJ here.
Edited 25/11/2013