The European Commission has launched a sector inquiry into competition in the pharmaceuticals sector (under Article 17 of Regulation 1/2003), and is conducting inspections at the premises of a number of innovative and generic pharmaceutical companies.

he inquiry is a response to indications that competition in pharmaceutical markets in Europe may not be working well: fewer new pharmaceuticals are being brought to market, and the entry of generic pharmaceuticals sometimes seems to be delayed. The inquiry will therefore look at the reasons for this. In particular, the inquiry will examine whether agreements between pharmaceutical companies, such as settlements in patent disputes, may infringe the EC Treaty's prohibition on restrictive business practices (Article 81). It will also look into whether companies may have created artificial barriers to entry, whether through the misuse of patent rights, vexatious litigation or other means, and whether such practices may infringe the EC Treaty's ban on abuses of dominant market positions (Article 82). Vigorous competition in this sector is crucial for the public, as it ensures both access by patients to state-of-the-art medicines, and value for money for health spending by individuals, private health schemes and government health services in Europe. An interim report is planned for autumn 2008 and final results are expected in the spring of 2009. The inquiry's findings will allow the Commission or national competition authorities to focus any future action on the most serious competition concerns, and to identify remedies to resolve the specific competition problems in individual cases.