EU regulators raid drug makers in Europe - by James Kante
European Union regulators have conducted a second round of raids on pharmaceutical companies this week, days before findings from a broad investigation into allegations of anti-competitive practices in the sector is to be released. The EU competition commissioner, Neelie Kroes, began the investigation in January with a series of raids on major drug companies, including GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer and Sanofi-Aventis, on suspicion that they and other companies were slowing the availability of generics and new medicines.The new raids come as Kroes prepares to outline on Friday her preliminary conclusions on the pharmaceutical sector, which has sales of about €200 billion annually in Europe. It is not yet known whether Kroes will identify particular companies. A determination that companies that make and sell medicines are using unfair practices could lead to large fines, as happened already to AstraZeneca in 2005. Kroes could also recommend changes to the way the industry operates.A spokesman for Kroes, Jonathan Todd, would not identify the companies that were raided this week. He said they were "separate and distinct" from the larger inquiry but may have stemmed from knowledge gathered in it.
Generics makers in Europe have broadly supported the inquiry begun in January. They are trying to get rules changed to make it easier for generics companies to place their products on the market as soon as patents expire, and to raise the hurdles for big pharmaceutical companies to sue makers of generics drugs for suspected patent violations. Note EU-Digest: Great going Mrs. Kroes - this is another positive example of one of the many benefits EU citizens and consumers have in the European Union. Keep up the good work.
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