Firms accused of ramping up anti-epilepsy drug prices

The UK's competition watchdog today accused two major drugmakers of charging "excessive and unfair" prices for an anti-epilepsy drug in Britain.

Pfizer and Flynn Pharma were accused by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) of "abusing a dominant position" by ramping up the cost of phenytoin sodium capsules in a potential breach of UK and EU competition law.

The drug is used by more than 50,000 patients in the UK to help prevent and control seizures.

US firm Pfizer manufactures the drug and supplies it to Hertfordshire-based Flynn Pharma, which distributes it.

The CMA said the prices had been hiked since Pfizer sold the rights to market the medicine to Flynn in September 2012.

It said since then, the US company had sold the drug to Flynn at prices between eight and 17 times higher than it was previously sold to UK wholesalers and pharmacies. Flynn has then sold phenytoin sodium to customers for 25 to 27 times more than before.

As a result, the NHS paid more than £50 million for the capsules in 2013 and more than £40 million in 2014, compared to around £2.3 million a year prior to September 2012.

Both drug firms said said they were co-operating with the CMA investigation and that the objections published on Thursday were only provisional findings.

A Flynn Pharma spokesman said they would "vigorously" defend themselves.

Pfizer was in the spotlight last year when it made a failed bid to buy British rival AstraZeneca.