Commission suspects anti-competitive practices

摘要

In the coming weeks or months - without awaiting the results of a sector inquiry that it has just launched - the European Commission could point the finger at certain pharmaceutical companies suspected of anticompetitive practices. This was specified by the Competition Commissioner, Neelie Kroes, while announcing, on 16 January in Brussels, the launch of a sector inquiry into competition in the pharmaceuticals sector and initial inspections at the premises of a number of innovative and generic pharmaceutical companies.rnThe British pharmaceutical groups GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca and the French firm Sanofi-Aventis confirmed, on 16 January, that they have been approached by officials involved in the investigation.rnKroes explained why she was targeting this industry. On the one hand, the drugs sector is fundamental to citizens, all the more so since the population is ageing, but also from an economic point of view (see box). On the other hand, it is apparent that competition cannot fully play its role on the European pharmaceuticals markets: fewer novel medicines are reaching the market and the entry of generic pharmaceuticals sometimes seems to be delayed.