A Comparative Study of Anti-Competitive Practices in the Pharmaceutical Industry in the Legal Systems of Iran, the European Union and the United States of America: Emphasis on Corona

Pharmaceutical products and services, because they are related to the right to health of individuals, have always been seen as one of the important business areas that, in addition to competitive issues, have witnessed political, social and security dimensions.

In the present study, a descriptive-analytical approach has been collected. In addition, this approach has been applied comparatively in the legal systems of Iran, the European Union and the United States of America.

Competition in the pharmaceutical industry controls the price of pharmaceutical products, increases customer choice and the quality of pharmaceutical goods and services. However, especially in the last two decades in the pharmaceutical industry, the world has witnessed the opposite trend, and behaviors such as the integration of the pharmaceutical industry, drug monopolies and government subsidies to the pharmaceutical industry, which can be examples of Anti-competitive, which ultimately leads to increased costs for services and pharmaceutical products for patients and national health care systems. With the outbreak of Corona in 2019, the issue of anti-competitive practices in the pharmaceutical industry has been raised again. Ethical considerations: In all stages of writing the text of the article and correcting it, the principles of fidelity, honesty and originality of the text were observed.

The conclusion of the present study is that, firstly, at the level of the European Union, based on Article 125 of the Lisbon Treaty, legislation in the field of health and its financing is essentially left to the member states, and this has led to In the field of pharmaceutical industry, each member state has its own policies in this area. Secondly, according to a note in Article 3 of the Law on the Regulations of Pharmaceutical, Food and Beverage Affairs of Iran, since the import and sale of drugs is prohibited without the permission of the Ministry of Health, and from another perspective, criminalization of this issue One of the examples of crimes can be considered as anti-competitive practices in the pharmaceutical industry. Third, drug monopolies, the integration of the pharmaceutical industry, and government assistance to the pharmaceutical industry for corona vaccine exploration are among the most important anti-competitive practices in the pharmaceutical industry.