Emma Barraclough, London and Eileen McDermott, New York
Antitrust regulators on both sides of the Atlantic toughened their stance against deals between generic and originator drugs companies last month.
The European Commission confirmed that it has asked pharmaceutical companies to hand over copies of settlement deals they have agreed over the past 18 months.
It has not revealed which companies have been sent the requests for information, but said that the requests cover patent settlement deals struck between July 1 2008 and December 31 last year covering the EU and European Economic Area.
The Commission said it is particularly interested in deals where an originator company has paid a generic rival in return for delayed entry on to the market of a generic drug.
The outgoing Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said that the Commission wanted to monitor these kind of deals to "better understand" why, by whom and under which...