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Falconbury

Competition Law for the Pharmaceutical Industry Training Course

A one-day practical and interactive seminar focuses on everything you need to know about competition law and the pharmaceutical sector

5 June 2025
+ 10 October 2025, 27 February 2026 »

from £599

Need help?  Enrol/reserve

Course overview

This comprehensive course is designed to equip professionals in the pharmaceutical sector with the knowledge and tools needed to navigate the complexities of competition law. It will cover the full spectrum of competition law from cooperation with competitors, to abusive life-cycle management, disparagement and the use of IP, to trends in public and private enforcement.

The expert speakers focus on the fundamental principles and key elements of competition law in the EU and UK that apply to the pharmaceutical industry. This is an interactive session that uses case studies and real-world examples from industry to address how compliance works in practice.

By addressing critical legal and operational challenges, participants will gain a clear and pragmatic understanding of how competition law impacts the pharmaceutical supply chain and how this translates to making commercial decisions in their day-to-day activities.

This training course is part of our Commercial Contracts Training Course collection which has been designed for the in-house lawyer.

Benefits of attending

By attending this course you will:

  • Understand the role of competition law in the entire pharmaceutical supply chain
  • Update your knowledge on relevant competition law for the pharma industry
  • Learn about horizontal and vertical co-operation
  • Explore portfolio management and dealing with next generation products
  • Get to grips with quota systems and export bans
  • Gain insights into how to be prepared for public enforcement and dawn raids
  • Familiarise yourself with key developments in damages directives, class actions and litigation funding

Who should attend?

This course has been specially designed for:

  • In-house lawyers
  • Compliance managers and regulatory affairs specialists
  • Commercial and contracts managers
  • R&D managers
  • Procurement and supply chain personnel
  • Business development managers
  • Heads of legal departments and legal advisers
  • Patent, IP, trade mark and licensing counsel

Enrol/reserve

This course will cover:

Introduction and legal landscape

  • Pharmaceutical supply chain & role of competition law
  • Competition law: relevant legislation for the pharmaceutical industry
  • Anticompetitive agreements
  • Abuse of dominance
  • Mergers
  • Where to find help

Horizontal and vertical cooperation in the pharmaceutical industry

  • Commercial agreements
  • Distribution agreements
  • Co-promotion and co-commercialisation
  • R&D
  • IP related agreements and licensing
  • Technology transfer
  • Industry associations and working groups

Unilateral conduct

  • Life-cycle/portfolio management – dealing with next generation products
  • Quota systems and export bans
  • Pricing: rebates, discounts and excessive pricing
  • Parallel trade
  • Disparagement – what can you say about your competitors?
  • IP-related abusive conduct

Case studies

Enforcement of competition law

  • Public enforcement
    • Dawn raid preparedness
    • Leniency
    • Continued regulatory focus on the pharmaceutical industry
  • Private enforcement
    • Key developments: Damages Directive/Class Actions/Litigation Funding
    • Damages claims against pharmaceutical companies
  • Case studies

Enrol/reserve

Niels Ersbøll
Arnold & Porter LLP

Niels Christian Ersbøll is a partner in the EU Antitrust practice, chair of the European Competition practice, and head of the Brussels office. He mainly advises clients on EU competition law in relation to merger control, cartels and restrictive practices, and abuse of dominance, where he has more two decades’ experience. Niels also has significant expertise in advising clients on EU sanctions and export control matters.

He has assisted clients in obtaining merger control clearance on a number of significant transactions before the European Commission and coordinating submissions to competition authorities worldwide for clients such as Pfizer, Boston Scientific and AT&T. He has significant experience assessing filing requirements, devising strategy, dealing with review and designing and negotiating remedies.

In relation to cartels, Niels has successfully acted for companies seeking leniency (immunity as well as fine reductions) before the European Commission, he has appeared before the EU General Court on appeal of European Commission decisions, and is advising on follow-on damage claims. Recently, Niels also has represented individual directors in cartel proceedings, and acted for a whistle blower. He also has significant experience helping clients with designing and implementing compliance measures and conducting internal investigations and audits.

Outside investigations related work, Niels regularly advises clients in relation to, for example, distribution and pricing arrangements, parallel trade, and various forms of cooperation agreements and strategic alliances between competitors. He acts for clients in many industries, and has particular experience within the life sciences, media and the transport & logistics sectors.

As a reflection of his deep understanding of the industry, since the declaration of the Covid-19 pandemic, Niels has also been working extensively with the vaccine industry to advise on a multitude of aspects of vaccine and antiviral procurement by governments and international organisations including the EU, the African Union, COVAX and CARICOM.

Moreover, Niels also regularly advises clients on EU sanctions questions, notably in rapidly changing regulatory environments, especially regarding EU sanctions on Russia. He helps companies establish EU sanctions compliance plans and commercial strategies as well as obtaining authorisations from competent Member States authorities.

More details

Zeno Frediani
Arnold & Porter LLP

Zeno Frediani advises clients on UK and EU competition law in relation to merger control, cartels and restrictive practices, abuse of dominance, and private damages claims. He also advises clients on the UK’s investment screening powers for national security matters. He has extensive experience in providing commercial solutions to complex regulatory issues. Zeno advises world-leading organisations, particularly within the FMCG and pharmaceutical sectors. He has also assisted clients in CMA and European Commission investigations.

In relation to antitrust litigation, Zeno has experience handling competition damages litigation in various jurisdictions, including England & Wales and The Netherlands.

He maintains an active pro bono practice and regularly advises charities and NGOs on a wide range of legal and strategic matters.

More details

Lazarinka Naydenova
Arnold & Porter LLP

Lazarinka Naydenova, Senior Associate with Arnold Porter, focuses on all aspects of European (EU) competition law, with particular emphasis on merger control proceeding, abuse of dominance, cartel matters, and state aid.

Lazarinka joined the firm's Brussels team in 2016. Prior to joining the firm, Lazarinka worked in another leading international competition law firm in Brussels. She has worked as an in-house lawyer at the Bulgarian Ministry of Finance and has also undertaken a traineeship at the European Commission's Directorate General for Competition. Lazarinka worked the ex-U.S. processes for Monsanto in its US$66 billion acquisition by Bayer, a transaction that won the 2019 GCR Awards for "Global Antitrust Matter of the Year" and "Merger Control Matter of the Year - Europe" and for Fitbit in its acquisition by Google which won the 2021 edition of the same award. She also represented a client in a dawn raid conducted by the European Commission in relation to an alleged violation of the antitrust rules.

More details

NEW higher discounts for multiple bookings - bring your colleagues to make your training budget go further:

  • 30% off the 2nd delegate*
  • 40% off the 3rd delegate*
  • 50% off the 4th delegate*

Please contact us for pricing if you are interested in booking 5 or more delegates

5 June 2025

Live online

09:30-17:00 UK (London) (UTC+01)
10:30-18:00 Paris (UTC+02)
04:30-12:00 New York (UTC-04)
Course code 15688

  • GBP 699
  • EUR 979
  • USD 1,119

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Not ready to book yet?

for 7 days, no obligation

10 October 2025

Live online

09:30-17:00 UK (London) (UTC+01)
10:30-18:00 Paris (UTC+02)
04:30-12:00 New York (UTC-04)
Course code 15689

  • GBP 599 699
  • EUR 839 979
  • USD 963 1,119

Until 05 Sep

View basket 

 
Not ready to book yet?

for 7 days, no obligation

27 February 2026

Live online

09:30-17:00 UK (London) (UTC+00)
10:30-18:00 Paris (UTC+01)
04:30-12:00 New York (UTC-05)
Course code 15690

  • GBP 599 699
  • EUR 839 979
  • USD 963 1,119

Until 23 Jan

View basket 

 
Not ready to book yet?

for 7 days, no obligation

* Early booking discounts may not be combined with other discounts or offers. As such, the discounts for 2nd/3rd/4th delegates are based on the full price; and apply only when booking multiple delegates on the same date.

Italy

  • chiesi farmaceutici
  • Chiesi Group

Belgium

  • Affordable Medicines Europe

Korea, Republic Of

  • Samsung Bioepis

Enrol/reserve

Multiple colleagues? See above for details of our discounts for 2, 3, or 4 delegates. For more, talk to one of our training experts to discuss how to:

Run this course conveniently and cost-effectively in-house for your staff and colleagues

Aleksandra Beer

Aleksandra BEER
Training expert

Yesim Nurko

Yesim NURKO
Training expert

+44 (0)20 7749 4749

inhouse@ipiacademy.com