Case C‑179/16 - preliminary ruling Hoffmann-La Roche and others

The Commission takes note of the preliminary ruling in which the Court of Justice addressed several questions from the Italian Council of State concerning the interpretation of EU competition rules in the context of off-label prescription of a certain medicine. Off-label prescription is the use of a medicine to treat a condition for which the medicine is not specifically approved. The judgment clarifies how to define the relevant market in these circumstances and, for the first time, finds that companies providing misleading information about off-label medicines to third parties (not only authorities but also medical professionals and the general public) could infringe EU competition rules.
Court's press release