EU to Check Drug Makers' Deals with Generic Rivals
From Associated Press (January 12, 2010)
BRUSSELS_European Union regulators warned Tuesday they are
investigating whether major drug makers broke antitrust rules by
paying off rivals to delay them from making cheaper, generic
versions of medicines after exclusive patents ended.
The European Commission did not name the companies it is looking
at.
It said it had asked several pharmaceutical companies to hand over
copies of patent settlement deals with generic drug makers made in
Europe between July 2008 and December 2009 and that it needed to
monitor such deals to see if they harm competition.
Regulators said that some patent settlements could harm customers
by depriving them of a wide choice of medicines at lower
prices.
The EU executive said last year that generic drugs are on average
40 percent cheaper than their branded rivals two years after they
launch and that it knew of some 200 deals between generic and
brand-name drug makers that could restrict the rollout of generic
versions.
Earlier this month the EU said it suspected Danish company Lundbeck
of delaying the launch of a generic version of the antidepressant
drug citalopram that it developed and sells as Celexa in the U.S.
and as Cipramil in Europe.
Posted: January 2010
