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| Pfizer fined record £84.2m for overcharging NHS | Pfizer fined record £84.2m for overcharging NHS |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Drugs giant Pfizer has been fined a record £84.2m by the UK's competition watchdog for overcharging the NHS for an anti-epilepsy drug. | Drugs giant Pfizer has been fined a record £84.2m by the UK's competition watchdog for overcharging the NHS for an anti-epilepsy drug. |
| The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) also fined distributor Flynn Pharma £5.2m for the 2,600% price increase for the drug in 2012. | The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) also fined distributor Flynn Pharma £5.2m for the 2,600% price increase for the drug in 2012. |
| NHS spending on the capsules rose from £2m a year in 2012 to about £50m in 2013. | NHS spending on the capsules rose from £2m a year in 2012 to about £50m in 2013. |
| Pfizer rejected the findings and said it would appeal against the decision. | |
| UK prices for the drug were many times higher than in Europe, the CMA said. | UK prices for the drug were many times higher than in Europe, the CMA said. |
| Philip Marsden of the CMA said: "The companies deliberately exploited the opportunity offered by de-branding to hike up the price for a drug which is relied upon by many thousands of patients. | |
| "These extraordinary price rises have cost the NHS and the taxpayer tens of millions of pounds." | |
| However, Pfizer said the drug - which went by the brand name Epanutin - was a loss making product, and that the deal with Flynn "represented an opportunity to secure ongoing supply of an important medicine for patients with epilepsy." | |
| The drugs giant said the increased price of the drug was still 25% to 40% below the cost of an equivalent medicine by another supplier to the NHS. | |
| But the CMA said by its calculations "all such losses would have been recovered within two months of the price rises." |