Brussels - The European Union has raided a number of pharmaceutical firms in Europe, suspecting them of breaking EU competition rules, officials in Brussels said Tuesday. "On 6 October, European Commission officials started surprise inspections at the premises of certain companies active in the pharmaceutical industry," a statement from the bloc's executive said.
The commission, which oversees EU competition laws, "has reason to believe that the provisions of the EC Treaty prohibiting restrictive business practices and/or the abuse of a dominant market position (Articles 81 and 82) may have been infringed," the statement said.
The launching of raids does not automatically mean that the companies involved have broken the law, it stressed.
The EU has long has its eyes on the pharmaceuticals market, suspecting that some companies may have come to illegal deals with the manufacturers of cheaper "generic" products to delay the launch of their drugs on the market.
The commission would not name the companies involved or give an indication of how long the case could run.
