* Preliminary report blasted firms for blocking generics
* Industry hopes for some softening in final version
By Ben Hirschler
LONDON, June 17 (Reuters) - The European Commission looks set to deliver its final verdict on competition, or lack of it, in the pharmaceutical sector on July 8, the industry's trade organisation said on Wednesday.
Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes blasted drugmakers last November when preliminary results of her inquiry concluded they were delaying or blocking the entry of cheaper generic medicines.
Thomas Cueni, who heads a European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations taskforce on the issue, told Reuters he hoped for a reassessment in the latest version but acknowledged a radical re-write was unlikely.
"The preliminary report was 420-odd pages ... it might be up to 600 pages now. I would be surprised if it was totally rewritten," he said.
The Commission, the European Union's executive arm, said last year that delays in getting generics to market had cost healthcare providers about 3 billion euros ($4.2 billion) between 2000 and 2007.
But drugmakers argue most of the delays were down to regulatory and other bureaucratic issues, rather than deliberate action by companies -- and Cueni is hoping there will be greater recognition of this in the final version of the report.
There could also be a couple of positive recommendations, he added, such as backing for a common European patent, applicable in all EU countries, and the introduction of a specialised patent litigation system.
Kroes kicked off her sector investigation in January 2008 with a series of raids on makers of brand-name drugs, including AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer, Merck and Sanofi-Aventis.
There were also raids on generic drugmakers suspected of colluding to limit the entry of generics, sometimes in exchange for payments from originator companies.
The Commission's findings could open the door to action against individual companies, with the potential for large fines down the road. (Editing by Rupert Winchester)