The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has imposed fines totalling over £260 million for competition law violations in relation to the supply of hydrocortisone tablets.
Hydrocortisone is used to treat inflammatory skin conditions as well as Addison’s Disease, a rare adrenal glands disorder.
The CMA found that Auden Mckenzie and Actavis UK (now “Accord UK”) imposed on the NHS “excessive and unfair” prices for hydrocortisone tablets from 2008 to 2018.
The CMA further found that the companies paid generic suppliers to keep their rival products out of the UK market. It appears that this so called “pay for delay” element of the case was a significant factor in the high prices. The CMA states that the NHS was at one point being charged over £80 for a single pack of tablets that had previously cost less than £1.
The decision represents the most significant and authoritative UK competition case to date on excessive pricing (at least until there is a new decision in the Pfizer/Flynn case). This has traditionally been one of the more difficult areas of competition law infringement to establish. The case comes as a warning shot that the CMA will not shy away from bringing a competition case in respect of excess pricing where it believes that consumers (here, the NHS and the taxpayer) are paying over the odds because the market is deprived from new (generic) entry.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/cma-finds-drug-companies-overcharged-nhs
#pharmacompetition
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