Alvogen Iceland ehf.'s acquisition of Teva's generic medicines in Iceland

The Competition Authority has been considering Alvogen Iceland ehf.'s acquisition of certain generic medicines from Teva Pharmaceuticals Europe B.V. in Iceland. The matter originated from the European Commission's handling of the merger between the pharmaceutical companies Teva and Allergan Generics (Actavis). In its decision on the merger, the Commission imposed conditions requiring the divestiture of Teva's generic medicines in Iceland. These conditions were intended to ensure competition in the Icelandic generic medicines market.  

Alvogen and Teva reached an agreement for Alvogen to purchase the generic medicines that Teva had marketed in Iceland. The Competition Authority considered this to constitute a merger and therefore requested notification in accordance with section 17(b), subsection 3 of the Competition Act. The Competition Authority concluded in its investigation that the merger would not have a detrimental effect on competition between rivals at the same level of distribution (horizontal effects). However, the Competition Authority considered that the merger would potentially lead to the vertical exclusion of its competitor, Lyfisa, which had distributed Teva's medicines in Iceland for the past few years. During the proceedings, Alvogen requested settlement negotiations with the Competition Authority. These led to a settlement which includes Lyfis being granted a longer transition period to respond to the loss of the distribution agreement for the Teva medicines.