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The European Commission said made a descent in the offices of several pharmaceutical companies which it believes may have slowed the entry from the sale of non-patented drugs.

"The commission has reason to believe that the undertakings concerned may have acted individually or jointly, including delaying generic entry for a particular drug," Executive EU said, declining to appoint companies. "This could be a potential violation of the Community antitrust rules."

AstraZeneca said separately that the raid of the premises is in relation to the ulcer medicine Nexium.

"We can confirm that we are subject to inspections by competition authorities which relate to the practices concerning esomeprazole (Nexium) in Europe," the company said. "We cooperate with the authorities.

Nexium and Seroquel, antipsychotic, were two drugs Astra bestseller last year, and both are set to lose their patent protection in the next four years.

In a report published last year the pharmaceutical industry, the European Commission said drug companies use a variety of ways to put the arrival of the generic solutions many markets of medications is patented in the marker "for as long as possible."

GlaxoSmithKline has stated he is not involved in the investigation of the competition.

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