By the end of the 2013, the Mexican Supreme Court published a landmark decision that now is public available that certainly will impact the legal framework of the Pharmaceutical Industry in Mexico.

Fact pattern of the case. A pharmaceutical company developed an innovator biologic medicine.   The Regulatory Agency in charge of granting the marketing authorizations in Mexico (COFEPRIS) granted a generic company an approval for the same product as bioequivalent of the innovator biologic product.

The innovator company filed a Constitutional Action (Amparo suit) contesting, inter alia, the following: i) That COFEPRIS never called the innovator to the generic approval proceeding in violation of the civil right of due process of law; ii) that COFEPRIS never responded certain legal and factual issues raised by the innovator during the generic approval proceeding; iii) That the generic approval was granted in violation of the Health Law and Regulations as the generic product never showed the required tests such as clinical trials and in-vitro studies.

The District Court in charge of reviewing this Constitutional Action at the first stage mainly dismissed all plaintiff's argumentation. Both, the innovator and the generic company appealed the District Court´s decision. Due to the relevance of the case, the appeals were turned to the Mexican Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court addressed many legal issues relevant for the decision; however, to be concise, we will refer in this newsletter to only some of them, as follows: i) although, it was not the main issue subject of analysis, the Supreme Court states that a patent holder has a subjective right that is transformed in proper legal standing to questioning any proceeding that may violate its exclusive rights; and ii) in absence of a subjective right such as a patent, based on the human right conferred in the Mexican Constitution to healthcare a pharmaceutical company having a valid marketing authorization for an innovative medicine has the proper legal standing to questioning and request COFEPRIS the issuance of an approval for a bioequivalent product only if it fully complies with all the applicable law and regulations, otherwise the healthcare right provided in the Mexican Constitution would be jeopardized.

Although, this Supreme Court precedent did not order COFEPRIS to cancel the generic approval and also established that COFEPRIS was not bound to call the innovator to the generic´s approval proceeding, it is a valuable and positive case law which confirms that patent holders have the legal standing to question marketing authorizations that may violate the exclusive rights but also based on the human right to health recognized in the Mexican Constitution, a pharmaceutical company as part of the health system, in order to prevent health risks is entitled to question and request COFEPRIS to observe all the applicable rules and regulations for an approval of a medicine.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ON THE CONTENT OF THIS NEWSLETTER, PLEASE CONTACT:

Alejandro Luna Fandiño

Alejandro Luna Fandiño

Partner

Alejandro Luna joined OLIVARES in 1996 and being made partner in 2005, he has been instrumental to the firm´s IP Litigation, Regulatory and Administrative Litigation practices. He co-chairs the Life Sciences & Pharmaceutical Law industry group and coordinates the Litigation Department.
Daniel Sánchez

Daniel Sánchez

Partner

Daniel Sanchez joined OLIVARES in 2000 and became a partner in 2011. He is one of the leading intellectual property (IP) and administrative litigators in Mexico and is recognized by industry rankings and publications.
Sergio L. Olivares Sr.

Sergio L. Olivares Sr.

Partner

Sergio L. Olivares Sr. joined OLIVARES in 1987 and today leads the firm with strength and a commitment to transparency, client satisfaction, and personal service. He has been a partner since 1994 and Chairman of the Management Committee since 2009.

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