EU Sees Big Pharma Blocking Generics

A preliminary report on the European Union's yearlong study of competition in the pharmaceutical industry finds evidence that research-based drug companies employ practices such as multiple patenting and litigation to block or delay market entry of generic drugs. The report claims that nearly $4 billion could have been saved between 2000 and 2007 in the EU's 17 member states if generic drugs had entered the market without delay. Arthur J. Higgins, CEO of Bayer HealthCare and president of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries & Associations, says the report "overstates the level as well as the reason" for generics delays. "Where there is strong commercial incentive, generics enter the market rapidly," Higgins says.