EU Says Drugmakers Blocked Cheaper Drugs

EU Says Drugmakers Blocked Cheaper Drugs | Page 1 of 2 | Drugs | Financial Articles & Investments News | TheStreet.com:

"BRUSSELS, Belgium -- European patients had to pay about 3 billion euros ($3.87 billion) more for medicines in 2000-2007 because pharmaceutical companies deliberately stalled the sale of cheaper generic versions, EU antitrust regulators said Friday.

An investigation of major pharmaceutical companies -- including Pfizer (PFE Quote - Cramer on PFE - Stock Picks), GlaxoSmithKline(GSK Quote - Cramer on GSK - Stock Picks) and Sanofi Aventis (SNY Quote - Cramer on SNY - Stock Picks) -- showed they had blocked or delayed generic drugs from entering the market to prevent losing revenue on their more profitable drugs, the European Commission said. "