Europe’s top competition regulator is to turn the spotlight on individual drug companies after publishing a report on Wednesday which finds that the entry of generic drugs into the pharmaceutical market is being delayed and costs to consumers inflated.

The European Commission said that the first individual antitrust investigations stemming from an 18-month probe of the sector were already under way, and that its intensified scrutiny of practices in the sector would cover legal settlements between the “originator” companies that develop new medicines and generic manufacturers.