July 23, 2022
Pfizer, Flynn Fined £70 Million for Epilepsy Drug Prices
“Pfizer Inc. and Flynn Pharma Ltd. were fined a combined £70 million ($83.6 million) after UK antitrust authorities said the firms charged ‘unfairly high prices’ for a drug used to control epileptic seizures.
Pfizer was fined £63 million and Flynn Pharma, £6.7 million, the Competition and Markets Authority said Thursday.
The companies exploited a loophole by de-branding the drug known as Epanutin, so that its price wasn’t regulated the same way as other branded drugs.
Over a four-year period, Pfizer charged prices between 780% and 1,600% higher than it sold for previously.
The UK’s National Health Service had no choice to pay the inflated final price, the CMA said.
‘These firms illegally exploited their dominant positions to charge the NHS excessive prices and make more money for themselves – meaning patients and taxpayers lost out,’ CMA chief Andrea Coscelli said in the statement.”
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