The 2008 EC Sector Inquiry Regarding Pharmaceuticals: What Does It Mean from a Research-Based Company Perspective?

A sector inquiry is never pleasant for the sector involved. It is much like going to the dentist for a checkup. The best possible result is that after all is said and done, nothing was wrong and life can go on. Well, this checkup began with a bang. On January 16, 2008, the European Commission launched a sector inquiry by staging a series of dawn raids on a number of pharmaceutical companies, with no suggestion of specific wrongdoing. The expressed reasons for the inquiry are puzzling.