Sector inquiry into pharmaceuticals

This page provides information relating to the inquiry, including reports, press releases, frequently asked questions (FAQ), presentations and speeches and other relevant documents. On 8 July 2009 the European Commission adopted the Final Report on its competition inquiry into the pharmaceutical sector, pursuant to Article 17 of Regulation 1/2003 EC. Since then, the Commission has been monitoring patent settlements between originator and generic companies and publishes annual Reports. The main objectives of the monitoring exercises are to better understand the use of this type of agreement in the European Economic Area and to identify those settlements that delay generic market entry to the detriment of the European consumer.