The European Commission last week promised tougher scrutiny of drug industry deals that maximize profits on branded medicines by slowing consumers' access to cheap generic drugs.

It opened an investigation into Servier, a pharmaceutical company headquartered in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, and several other drug manufacturers, over agreements that may have breached anti-trust laws.

Neelie Kroes, the European competition commissioner, also announced the final report of her department's 18-month inquiry into competition in the pharmaceutical sector (see http://tinyurl.com/EUreport). The report says that 'company practices' are delaying the market entry of generic drugs, but notes that shortcomings in Europe's regulatory framework might be a factor too.

An industry trade body, the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations, approved of the reference to regulatory obstacles. It says that the findings show a "welcome shift away from the emotive language" of an interim report released last November.