Facing what seems to be a revival of competition law enforcement and policy debate on the topic of excessive pharmaceutical prices on both sides of the Atlantic, we aim to bring together high-level stakeholders in this field including practitioners, in-house counsels, competition authorities and scholars. 
The notion of “unfair” or excessive prices has been enshrined in article 102 TFEU regarding exploitative pricing abuses by a dominant firm, although the application and enforcement of this has been rather limited in practice. Recent case law and an evolution of thought regarding competition law and legal-economics theories point however to a possible policy shift in this regard.
However, it is further crucial that the necessary debates are taking place within a well-informed and transparent environment that takes into account multiple factors, interests, responsibilities and concerns. This entails inter alia to consider various types of diseases (rare, neglected or blockbuster), treatment outcomes (cure or long dependency), as well as the economic complexities of successful innovation systems and higher societal goals such as sustainability, solidarity and fairness.
Bringing together representatives from OECD, EU Directorate General Competition, Danish Competition and Consumer Authority, Swedish Dental and Pharmaceutical Benefits Agency, International Federation of Pharma Manufacturers & Associations, Danish Cancer Patient Organization and some of the leading scholars in the field, the aim of the conference is to have a true multi-stakeholder perspective on this complex topic to find sustainable solutions for innovation and access in regards to pharmaceuticals.
The issue of excessive pharmaceutical prices will be discussed from perspectives of patent law, R&D and incentives to innovate, competition law and anti-competitive practices as well as human rights and access to medicines.
The confirmed speakers include: Dr. Rainer Becker, Head of Unit E1 – Antitrust: Pharma & Health Services, DG Competition, European Commission (speaker, 45 minutes)http://europa.eu/whoiswho/public/index.cfm?fuseaction=idea.hierarchy&nodeID=3408155&personID=499323&lang=en
Martin Wenzl and Dr. Pedro Caro de Sousa, OECD Health & Competition Division (speakers, 45 minutes)http://www.oecd.org/daf/competition/excessive-pricing-in-pharmaceuticals.htm
Mette Clausen, Chief Special Advisor, & Lene Thomsen Andrä, Special Advisor, Danish Competition and Consumer Authority, Retail, Industry, Primary Sector and Health Division (speakers, 45 minutes)https://www.en.kfst.dk/competition/
Douglas Lundin, Chief Economist, The Dental and Pharmaceutical Benefits Agency, TLV (speakers, 45 minutes) https://tlv.se/in-english.html
Dr. Elisabetta M. Lanza, Officer (Legal expert), Italian Competition Authority (speaker, 45 minutes)https://www.agcm.it/
Prof. Frederick M. Abbott, Edward Ball Eminent Scholar Professor of International Law, Florida State University College of Law (speaker, 45 minutes)https://law.fsu.edu/faculty-staff/frederick-m-abbott
Prof. Suerie Moon, Co-Director, Global Health Centre, and Visiting Lecturer, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Genevahttps://graduateinstitute.ch/academic-departments/faculty/suerie-moon
Sara Amini, Head of International Value & Access Policy & Advocacy, International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations (IFPMA) (speaker, 45 minutes)https://www.ifpma.org/people/8298/
Dr. Linda Aagard Thomsen, Danish Cancer Society Research Center (speaker, 45 minutes)https://www.cancer.dk/
Prof. Timo Minssen, Professor in Biomedical Innovation Law, CeBIL, Faculty of Law, Copenhagen University (center director, speaker)https://jura.ku.dk/english/staff/research/?pure=en/persons/381631
Behrang Kianzad, PhD-Fellow, CeBIL, Faculty of Law, Copenhagen University (organizer & speaker)https://jura.ku.dk/english/staff/research/?pure=en/persons/604260