Pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Flynn were fined a total of £69 million in the UK on Wednesday for abusing their dominant position by charging excessive prices for an anti-epileptic drug, costing the system millions of pounds. British health. These fines handed down by the Competition Appeal Tribunal follow an investigation by the UK Competition Authority (CMA) into the price of this vital medicine between 2012 and 2016.
“Pfizer and Flynn exploited the market in a way that can only be described as unjustifiable or opportunistic or in a word, unfair”concludes the court in its judgment, cited in a press release from the CMA. The CMA had “revealed that between 2012 and 2016, Pfizer prices increased by 780 to 1600%”according to this press release.
“The company supplied the drug to Flynn, who then sold the capsules to wholesalers and pharmacies at prices significantly higher than his own costs. The combination of prices imposed by Pfizer and Flynn resulted in prices between 2300% and 2600% higher than those previously charged for the drug.she adds.
The cost of treatment for the British health service, the NHS, has risen “from 2 million pounds in 2012 to around 50 million pounds the following year”. The CMA fined Pfizer £63.3 million and Flynn £6.7 million following its investigation, but the companies appealed.
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