06/07/2011 (Agence Europe) - Anti-trust investigation on Boehringer. On Wednesday 6 July, the European Commission closed an investigation begun in 2007 further to allegations brought by the Spanish pharmaceutical company, Almirall, against its German competitor, Boehringer Ingelheim. Almirall alleged that Boehringer Ingeheim had filed for unmeritous patents regarding new treatments of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a disease often caused by smoking. Almirall claimed that, by filing for a patent at an early stage on a non-inventive product, the German company wished to block or delay market entry by competitors, including Almirall. Since then, Boehringer has eliminated the alleged blocking elements and lifted the obstacles on the marketing of Almirall products. The Commission has therefore decided to close the affair. (F.G./transl.jl)