CMA again accuses Pfizer and Flynn of illegal pricing

The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has provisionally found that US pharma giant Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) and its UK distributor Flynn Pharma, abused their dominant positions to overcharge the NHS for vital anti-epilepsy drugs, after reassessing the case.

Having gathered further evidence and after carefully assessing the facts, the CMA has reached a provisional view – known as a Statement of Objections – that Pfizer and Flynn broke competition law by charging unfairly high prices for phenytoin sodium capsules.

The CMA has provisionally found that the companies exploited a loophole by de-branding the drug – known as Epanutin prior to September 2012 – with the effect that the drug was not subject to price regulation in the way branded drugs are. 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.