Pfizer fined £63 million for overcharging NHS for life-saving medication

Pharmaceutical company Pfizer has been hit with a huge fine after it was found to have overcharged the NHS for a life-saving epilepsy drug.

The American company, best known for its part in helping to develop and produce the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid vaccine, was fined £63 million by the competition watchdog. The drug in question, phenytoin sodium capsules, are used to help prevent and control certain types of seizure.

Fellow drug firm Flynn was also fined £6.7 million for overcharging on the same medication. The price hikes led to NHS costs for the drug jumping from £2 million in 2012 to a staggering £50 million in 2013.

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Pfizer and Flynn challenged initial findings back in 2016 when the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) originally found that both firms broke competition law and handed out fines worth more than £84 million, but a second investigation was launched in 2020 resulting in the new fines. Pfizer has said it will appeal the decision.

A spokesperson for Pfizer said that ensuring a sustainable supply of the company’s products to patients in the UK “is of paramount importance to us”. They added: “We maintain that we approached this divestment, as with all our business operations, with integrity and believe it fully complies with established competition law.”

But the CMA has maintained that the price hikes were unacceptable. Andrea Coscelli, chief executive of the CMA, said: “Phenytoin is an essential drug relied on daily by thousands of people throughout the UK to prevent life-threatening epileptic seizures.

“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,” added Coscelli. “Such behaviour will not be tolerated, and the companies must now face the consequences of their illegal action.”

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