The EAEPC contended that the Spanish medicines law of 2006, which allows pharmaceutical companies to adopt differential pricing depending on whether the product is going be sold domestically or resold abroad, is anticompetitive and breaches the EC treaty.
According to EAEPC, major drug makers such as Pfizer, Lilly, Sanofi-Aventis, Merck & Co. and Janssen-Cilag have unfairly adopted dual-pricing systems by way of the Spanish medicines law. Richard Freudenberg, the president of EAEPC said that dual pricing mechanism has eventually stopped exports of medicines from Spain. He urged the commission to put an end to the unlawful practice encouraged by the Spanish government.