CMA accuses pharma companies of market sharing in anti-nausea treatments

CMA accuses pharma companies of market sharing in anti-nausea treatments

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has issued a statement of objections to Focus Pharmaceuticals, Medreich, Alliance Pharmaceuticals and Lexon alleging that they have infringed Article 101 TFEU and the Chapter I prohibition in relation to the supply of Prochlorperazine 3mg buccal tablets in the UK.  The concerned products are used to treat nausea and dizziness.

The CMA has provisionally found that Lexon and Medreich were paid a share of the profits earned by Focus on the supply of the Alliance drug and agreed not to compete in the supply of Prochlorperazine in the UK.

The CMA maintains that prior to entering the non-competes, Lexon and Medreich had been preparing to market their jointly developed product. The CMA finds that during the operation of the arrangement between December 2013 and December 2017 the prices paid by the NHS for Prochlorperazine increased by around 700%.

This latest investigation represents the CMA’s fourth major antitrust probe into the pharmaceutical sector since 2016.