The European Commission’s Draft Merger Guidelines: Implications for Life Sciences

On April 30, 2026, the European Commission issued its Draft Merger Guidelines (DMG) for market feedback, meant to replace the EC's current Horizontal Merger Guidelines and Non-Horizontal Merger Guidelines by updating and consolidating them into a single framework for the assessment of concentrations under the European Union Merger Regulation. Partner Ingrid Vandenborre and counsel Michael Frese and Georgios Zacharodimos discuss the practical significance of the DMG for life sciences mergers, which lies primarily in the codification of the EC's existing analytical approach.