U.K.-based AstraZeneca PLC and Swiss drug maker Nycomed SCA confirmed Friday that European Union regulators had raided some of their offices this week in connection with an antitrust probe. The European Commission said it carried out the operations on the offices of pharmaceutical companies that allegedly delayed market entry of generic drug competitors for a specific medicine.
AstraZeneca confirmed that a number of its sites in Europe had been visited this week, mainly focusing on its top-seller heartburn drug, Nexium, also known as esomeprazole. Nycomed later confirmed that EU competition regulators inspected two of its sites in Germany. The EU commission said in a statement Friday that it "has reason to believe that the companies concerned may have acted individually or jointly, notably to delay generic entry for a particular medicine."
Friday's announcement is part of a years-long commission effort to crack down on anticompetitive practices in the pharmaceutical sector. The European Union's antitrust body is carrying out various investigations into alleged anti-competitive practices and focuses on pharmaceutical patent settlements that can delay the introduction of generic rivals.
Note EU-Digest: This is one of the reasons why the Wall Street Mafia does not like the EU and what it stands for.
For more: EU Raids Pharmaceutical Companies - WSJ.com
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