EC probes pharma patent settlements to stall generic launches

European Union antitrust watchdog yesterday started investigating pharmaceutical companies to find out whether they are cutting deals with rivals to stall generic drugs from entering the market once exclusive patents of their own drugs expire.

The European Commission (EC) is reported to have sent "information requests" to pharmaceutical companies like AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Boehringer Ingelheim, Roche and Sanofi-Aventis, which according to the EC, accounted for more than half the pharmaceutical sector's sales in Europe.

Although the pharmaceutical companies who have received these requests were not named by the EC, GSK and AstraZeneca confirmed that they have received this request and said they would cooperate with the investigation.

In July, EC commissioner Neelie Kroes warned that she would investigate pharmaceutical companies that stall generic drugs from entering the market once exclusive patents of their own drugs expire.

Her warning came after the EC discovered in July during a broad inquiry that many large drug makers were paying makers of generic drugs to delay launching cheaper generic version of their patent expired drugs.

Last week, the EC launched a formal antitrust probe against the Copenhagen, Denmark-based drugmaker H Lundbeck A/S on suspicion that the company made deals with other pharmaceutical companies to delay the sales of a cheaper generic version of its antidepressant Citalopram in Europe after its exclusive right to the drug it developed ran out in 2003. (See: EU launches probe against Lundbeck for stalling generic drugs)