EU Regulator Drops GlaxoSmithKline Antitrust Investigation

European Union regulators has scrapped an investigation into alleged antitrust infringements by British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline (GSK.L) after U.S. rival Synthon withdrew its complaint, the European Commission said on Friday. The EU executive, which acts as the competition regulator across the 27-country EU, said the complaint related to agreements to delay the entry of cheaper medicines entering the market -- so-called pay-for-delay deals. "The Commission examined whether there may have been violation of EU competition law by GlaxoSmithKline," it said, adding the case had focused on possible abuse of "a dominant position and/or entering into anticompetitive agreements or concerted practices in order to delay or exclude generic competition."