Hungary's Richter says not contacted in EU probe
BUDAPEST, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Hungarian drug producer Richter GDRB.BU said on Thursday it has not been contacted by the European Commission related to an investigation focused on producers of original drugs.
Richter's peer, Slovenian generic drugs producer Krka (KRKG.LJ) said earlier on Thursday that Commission officials visited its offices as part of an investigation which focuses on potential abuse of intellectual property rights by the originator pharmaceutical companies.
Richter is primarily a generic drugs maker.
"Richter has not been approached by the European Commission on this issue," Richter's spokeswoman Zsuzsa Beke told Reuters.
On Wednesday, privately owned French drugmaker Servier and Israel's Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (TEVA.O) said they were among companies raided by Commission officials this week.
The inspections come on the eve of a preliminary report into the pharmaceuticals sector following a year-long investigation by Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes, due on Friday.
At 1323 GMT Richter shares traded 0.6 percent lower at 26,200 forints while the bourse's official BUX index .BUX was up 1.5 percent. (Reporting by Krisztina Than; Editing by David Cowell)
