On 11 December 2017, we reported that Advocate General Bobek had opined in Case C-557/16, Astellas Pharma GmbH, that Concerned Member States (CMS) are co-responsible for marketing authorisations granted under the decentralised procedure (DCP).

This morning, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) handed down its judgment in the case. The Court ruled that:

• Article 28 and Article 29(1) of Directive 2001/83/EC (the Directive) must be interpreted as meaning that, in the framework of a DCP for the placing on the market of a generic medicinal product, the competent authority of a CMS cannot itself determine the starting point of the regulatory data protection (RDP) period of the reference medicinal product after the close of the coordinated procedure, and when it adopts its decision on the generic medicinal product in that Member State. However, the CMS is part of the assessment procedure, and must verify the expiry of the RDP period (para 29), or not approve the assessment report (para 30).
• Article 10 of the Directive, read in conjunction with Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, must be interpreted as meaning that a court of a CMS involved in a DCP, when faced with an action brought by the holder of the marketing authorisation of the reference medicinal product, against the generic marketing authorisation granted in that Member State, is competent to review the determination of the starting point of the RDP period of the reference medicinal product. On the other hand, that court does not have jurisdiction to determine whether the initial marketing authorisation for the reference medicinal product granted in another Member State was granted in accordance with the Directive.

We will post our analysis of the judgment soon.