Wednesday 7 December 2016

£84.2m Fine Impose On Pfizer n Flynn For 2,600% Hike In NHS Price

Pfizer makes Viagra and the cholesterol drug LipitorImage result for flynn pharma
The regulator's investigation found prices were raised by up to 2,600% after the drug, once known as Epanitin, was "deliberately" de-branded in September 2012 when Stevenage-based Flynn bought the UK distribution rights from Pfizer.
A regulator has ordered two pharmaceutical firms to pay a record penalty, accusing them of overcharging the NHS through a 2,600% overnight drug price hike.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it had imposed a £84.2m fine on manufacturer Pfizer and a £5.2m fine on distributor Flynn Pharma.

It declared each "broke competition law by charging excessive and unfair prices" in the UK for phenytoin sodium capsules, an anti-epilepsy drug, used by 48,000 patients who could not switch to alternative medication for fear it would trigger seizures.

US firm Pfizer, best-known as the maker of Viagra, told Sky News it disputed the findings while Flynn also said it intended to appeal.
It meant that because the drug was now generic it was no longer subject to price regulation.

The CMA said the amount the NHS was charged for 100mg packs of the drug rocketed from £2.83 to £67.50, before coming down to £54 from May 2014.

It meant, the watchdog said, that NHS expenditure on phenytoin sodium capsules rose from about £2m a year in 2012 to about £50m in 2013.

"The prices of the drug in the UK have also been many times higher than Pfizer's prices for the same drug in any other European country," the statement said.
Pfizer said it would appeal "all aspects" of the ruling.


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