The European Union cut an antitrust fine against AstraZeneca Plc, the U.K.’s second-largest drugmaker, from 60 million euros ($73 million) to 52.5 million euros.
The EU’s General Court, the region’s second-highest court, upheld the bulk of the penalty in a ruling today in Luxembourg. London-based AstraZeneca was fined by the European Commission in June 2005 for abusing its dominant position and misleading patent authorities to keep generic versions of its Prilosec heartburn medicine off the market.
Today’s ruling may affect an ongoing EU probe into the generic drug practices of pharmaceutical companies. AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline Plc and Sanofi-Aventis SA are among companies the Brussels-based regulator has queried as part of its probe into companies’ strategies to keep copies of medicines off the market. In a report last July the EU said companies use a variety of techniques to delay generics.
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