Several major pharmaceutical companies were raided by European authorities yesterday as part of an investigation into whether or not they colluded to keep prices of their drugs high after their patents had expired. The UK’s Financial Times reports that Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline, AstraZeneca and Sanofi-Aventis were some of the companies unexpectedly visited by the EU agents.

The European Commission said that the raids were the tip of the iceberg as far as the investigation is concerned, and they’re still gathering data on the issue. The raids were not an accusation of guilt on the part of the companies.

In explaining the new precedent of unannounced visits, the ever aggressive Neelie Kroes said:

“If we have the feeling that something is rotten in the state, then let’s take the opportunity to find out.”

According to the FT story, the generic drug companies have been raising their eyebrows for some time, accusing big pharmaceuticals of using shifty means to delay them from producing cheaper, identical drugs.