EU probes generic drug makers over medicine entry delay
July 9, 2009
By Matthew Newman and Naomi Kresge Brussels
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, France-based Servier and other generic drug makers are facing EU antitrust investigations of agreements that may have delayed market entry of a cardiovascular medicine.
The investigations, which include Krka Group, India's Lupin, Mylan's Matrix Laboratories unit and the Niche Generics unit of Unichem Laboratories, concern deals that may have hindered the market entry of a generic version of Servier's perindopril, a hypertension medication.
The investigations come as the European Commission said in a report that companies had used a variety of techniques to delay the introduction of generics "for as long as possible".
The commission, the EU's executive arm, said that it would continue to probe whether the use of patents to delay generics violated antitrust rules.
"That's something the commission can do something about," said Frances Cloud, a London-based independent analyst.
"The commission can reform the patent situation, and they can certainly directly ban out-and-out payments, which will presumably make originator companies a lot more cautious, but it's not totally going to get rid of the deals."
The commission's final report follows an 18-month probe that began after raids at GlaxoSmithKline, Sanofi-Aventis and AstraZeneca, as well as several other competitors in the industry.
A spokesman at Servier declined to comment. Teva, based in Israel, said that it would issue a statement soon.
The availability of generic drugs is also a major issue in the US.
The Justice Department said on Monday in a court filing that in many cases it should be illegal for makers of brand-name drugs to pay to delay the introduction of generic competitors.
Makers of brand-name drugs would face a decline in revenue from 2011 when products generating $150 billion (R1.2 trillion) a year would have generic competition, analysts and investment advisors said last December.
The EU is spending e214bn (R2.4 trillion) a year on medicines, or e430 a person, according to the commission's preliminary report released in November. - Bloomberg
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