A sector inquiry into the pharmaceutical industry was published late last year, alleging breaches of competition law by the industry. It accused established firms of delaying the entry of cheap generic medicines onto the market and blocking competitors' efforts to develop new drugs (EurActiv 28/11/08).
Publication of the controversial report followed two separate raids on the offices of major drug firms last year (EurActiv 26/11/08). The manner of the investigation was strongly criticised by industry representatives, but the Commission justified its actions by saying it believed some companies may be engaged in "restrictive business practices and/or the abuse of a dominant market position".
A post-inquiry public consultation process was initiated to encourage debate of the investigation's preliminary results, with a final report due later this year.
Yesterday (2 February) Jonathan Todd, the EU executive's internal market spokesman, confirmed that the results of the consultation exercise would be made public.
"The consultation period came to an end on Saturday night and more than forty contributions were received. The submissions will be posted on the competition website within the next few weeks. In practice, the comments received will be taken into account when the Commission draws up its definitive report on the pharmaceutical sector inquiry which will be published before the summer," Todd said.
Sector inquiries are initiated by the European Commission when an economic sector does not appear to be functioning as well as expected, or when there are indications of anti-competitive practices.
