- Home
- Medical news & Guidelines
- Anesthesiology
- Cardiology and CTVS
- Critical Care
- Dentistry
- Dermatology
- Diabetes and Endocrinology
- ENT
- Gastroenterology
- Medicine
- Nephrology
- Neurology
- Obstretics-Gynaecology
- Oncology
- Ophthalmology
- Orthopaedics
- Pediatrics-Neonatology
- Psychiatry
- Pulmonology
- Radiology
- Surgery
- Urology
- Laboratory Medicine
- Diet
- Nursing
- Paramedical
- Physiotherapy
- Health news
- Fact Check
- Bone Health Fact Check
- Brain Health Fact Check
- Cancer Related Fact Check
- Child Care Fact Check
- Dental and oral health fact check
- Diabetes and metabolic health fact check
- Diet and Nutrition Fact Check
- Eye and ENT Care Fact Check
- Fitness fact check
- Gut health fact check
- Heart health fact check
- Kidney health fact check
- Medical education fact check
- Men's health fact check
- Respiratory fact check
- Skin and hair care fact check
- Vaccine and Immunization fact check
- Women's health fact check
- AYUSH
- State News
- Andaman and Nicobar Islands
- Andhra Pradesh
- Arunachal Pradesh
- Assam
- Bihar
- Chandigarh
- Chattisgarh
- Dadra and Nagar Haveli
- Daman and Diu
- Delhi
- Goa
- Gujarat
- Haryana
- Himachal Pradesh
- Jammu & Kashmir
- Jharkhand
- Karnataka
- Kerala
- Ladakh
- Lakshadweep
- Madhya Pradesh
- Maharashtra
- Manipur
- Meghalaya
- Mizoram
- Nagaland
- Odisha
- Puducherry
- Punjab
- Rajasthan
- Sikkim
- Tamil Nadu
- Telangana
- Tripura
- Uttar Pradesh
- Uttrakhand
- West Bengal
- Medical Education
- Industry
Pfizer epilepsy drug prices were unfairly high, finds UK review
New Delhi: Britain's competition watchdog is sticking with its view that Pfizer and Flynn Pharma broke the law by charging Britain's public health service "unfairly high" prices for an epilepsy drug, after being asked to reassess a record fine.
The drugmakers made use of a loophole so that the capsules, branded Epanutin prior to September 2012, were not subject to price regulation for branded drugs, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) found in its provisional review. In 2016, the CMA fined Pfizer and Flynn a record 90 million pounds ($125 million) for the price hike. However, the companies in 2018 won an appeal against the penalty, and the Competition Appeal Tribunal referred the matter back to the CMA.
The CMA said that spending by Britain's National Health Service (NHS) on the capsules, containing phenytoin sodium, jumped to roughly 50 million pounds in 2013 from about 2 million pounds just a year earlier.
"As Pfizer and Flynn were the dominant suppliers of the drug in the UK, the NHS had no choice but to pay unfairly high prices for this vital medicine," the CMA said in a statement after it gathered more evidence and reviewed its previous case.
Pfizer and Flynn did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment. The CMA has said the companies can respond to its findings before a formal decision is reached.
The cost of a 100mg pack of phenytoin sodium had jumped as much as 2,600% to 67.50 pounds before prices were reduced slightly to 54 pounds apiece from May 2014, the regulator said in its 2016 order.
The CMA has been cracking down on drug price hikes in Britain. Last month, it fined more than 10 drug firms. A record 260 million pounds in total for a 10,000% surge in prices of a life-saving steroid.
Ruchika Sharma joined Medical Dialogue as an Correspondent for the Business Section in 2019. She covers all the updates in the Pharmaceutical field, Policy, Insurance, Business Healthcare, Medical News, Health News, Pharma News, Healthcare and Investment. She has completed her B.Com from Delhi University and then pursued postgraduation in M.Com. She can be contacted at editorial@medicaldialogues.in Contact no. 011-43720751
Next Story