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Internal emails, revealed by a BBC Newsnight investigation, show that Reckitt Benckiser was concerned about the potential loss of revenue it would face, if a generic was introduced:

One Reckitt executive wrote: "Should we not drag it out as long as possible... nine million pounds of business is at stake".

The delays were designed to give Reckitt time to mount what was described as "a clever idea" - a switch to an almost identical product with a different name. "I am sure there must be something we can dig out of the cupboard!" one executive wrote.

In other emails, executives wrote of their intention to create "a further barrier to competitors" and "restrict entry for new competitors" by abusing the regulatory process.

At the same time that Reckitt was trying to influence the regulatory process it was persuading doctors to switch all patients, many on repeat prescriptions, to Gaviscon Advance. This was basically the same product, based on a seaweed extract and sodium bicarbonate, but at double strength.

The high-pressure sales tactics Reckitt used in 2005 were so unscrupulous that the industry's self-regulating watchdog made a ruling of unethical behaviour against Reckitt.

Behind Reckitt's blocking tactics lies a complex procedure for creating generic drugs. Before a doctor can prescribe a generic from his database, and a rival firm can manufacture it, it has to have an official title given by the British National Formulary (BNF).

Reckitt's first move was to claim that Gaviscon was so unusual, as a compound of three separate chemicals, that the BNF had no right to issue a name. It took three years for the BNF to dismiss this claim.

Reckitt's next tactic in 2003 was to intervene with a regulatory body, the British Pharmacopeia Commission (BPC), part of the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency. The company claimed on safety grounds that a detailed quality specification, known as a monograph, was needed first. The BPC was persuaded to agree.

The Commons' Health Select Committee is now expected to investigate the Gaviscon case.

Richard Taylor MP, a committee member and former doctor, said: "I have regular letters from people with cancer and other serious problems who cannot get the drugs and that's where we should be spending the money, rather than giving companies huge profits on drugs that aren't really an advance."

Reckitt Benckiser said: "Both Gaviscon Original and Gaviscon Advance have been available in the NHS since 1997 and remain available for doctors to prescribe today. Gaviscon Advance is a second generation alginate product – the result of considerable investment in R&D - with proven stronger, longer lasting raft effect and lower sodium – and given its improved properties dose for dose costs exactly the same as Gaviscon Original – providing doctors and patients with a better product, at no additional cost. "

It added: "The company made appropriate challenges where we felt it was justified to ensure patients are prescribed the right treatment. These were within the law and relevant regulations, and only if the regulators felt a comment was valid was it taken into account."

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