GlaxoSmithKline, AstraZeneca and at least seven competitors were raided as part of a European Union probe into whether patents and lawsuit settlements were improperly used to keep generic drugs off the market.
Inspectors from the EU's antitrust authority collected ``confidential'' information about intellectual property rights, litigation and settlements in patent disputes, the European Commission said today.
Glaxo, Johnson & Johnson, Wyeth, Novartis AG, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., AstraZeneca, Pfizer Inc. Merck & Co., and Sanofi-Aventis SA said they had been contacted.
The makers of branded drugs face a decline in revenue starting in 2011 when products generating $150 billion a year will be hurt by generic competition.
The EU may look at how companies use lawsuits and other tactics to keep cheaper copies off the market. The generic drugs industry, which produces cheaper but chemically identical versions of medicines once their patents expire, has long accused innovative drug manufacturers of “ever-greening”, or using spurious grounds to delay competition by extending their exclusive intellectual property rights.
The Swiss competition commission, or WEKO, is closely following the European Commission's probe of several European drug companies and could launch its own investigation if there are signs of price fixing, a spokesperson for the Swiss watchdog told the Associated Press Wednesday.
Earlier Wednesday, the commission said it has launched a broad inquiry into competition problems in the pharmaceuticals sector. While Roche said that its offices haven't been raided, Novartis said its generics unit Sandoz has been contacted by European officials.
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