Skip to content

This Site is Intended for Healthcare Professionals Only

Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Tribunal upholds £84 million fine on Advanz Pharma, PE firms over drug price inflation

Advanz Pharma, alongside London-based private equity firms Cinven and HgCapital, is collectively confronted with an £84 million penalty for inflating the price of the thyroid drug by over 1,000 per cent, soaring from £20 to £248 per package over an eight-year period.

The Competition Appeal Tribunal endorsed 'all key aspects' of the Competition and Markets Authority's verdict on the companies' culpability in the case, the CMA has said.


Advanz stood as the sole supplier of liothyronine tablets, essential for treating thyroid hormone deficiency, with the cost of a packet of these tablets surging over 12-fold between 2009 and 2017.

Although Advanz Pharma currently possesses ownership of the company, its former owners, PE firms Cinven and HgCapital, also bear responsibility for the imposed fine, the CMA said.

“NHS annual spending on the tablets in 2006, the year before the implementation of the strategy, was £600,000, but by 2009 had increased to more than £2.3 million and jumped to more than £30 million by 2016,” Britain’s competition watchdog said.

The CMA said that the tribunal upheld its determination that Advanz had exploited its dominant position. Advanz had charged “excessive and unfair prices”, it said.

In particular, “the Tribunal found that the price increases were part of a deliberate strategy to exploit the lack of regulatory or competitive constraints and resulted in a significant impact on the NHS.”

The Tribunal dismissed all of the appellants’ grounds of appeal on liability, the CMA added.

However, the tribunal reduced the overall fine for the three businesses from around £101 million to £84.2 million. Advanz Pharma will pay £40.9 million, Cinven £37.1 million and HgCapital £6.2 million, the tribunal decided.

“We are delighted that the Competition Appeal Tribunal has unanimously upheld the CMA’s infringement findings,” said Michael Grenfell, executive director of enforcement of CMA. “This landmark judgment reinforces the need for companies to think carefully about how they set prices and paves the way for the NHS to seek compensation.”

“The CMA will continue to crack down on companies which abuse their market power in ways that harm people and the wider economy,” he added.

Earlier, CMA had fined Pfizer and Flynn £63 million and £6.7 million each for alleged competition law breaches and unauthorized profits from an anti-epilepsy medication's sales.

More For You

Community Pharmacy England (CPE) chief executive Janet Morrison was one of the signatories of the statement

Community Pharmacy England (CPE) chief executive Janet Morrison was one of the signatories of the statement

Primary care leaders join forces in effort to 'transform investment into primary care'

Community Pharmacy England (CPE) has teamed up with other national primary care bodies to urge the government to allocate more funds towards the sector.

In a joint statement released on the back of the government’s spending review, last week, the organisations welcomed the government’s continued determination to ‘shift care from hospitals to community and from sickness to prevention’ but warned that this would not be possible ‘without further investment in primary care’.

Keep ReadingShow less
Cancer patients warned against using weight-loss jabs

Macmillan Cancer Support said there is not enough evidence on how the weight-loss jabs might affect anti-cancer treatments.

iStock

Cancer patients warned against using weight-loss jabs

Cancer patients have been advised to consult their doctor before taking any weight-loss jabs.

Macmillan Cancer Support has issued this advisory following a surge in calls by cancer patients asking whether they can take fat loss jabs such as Wegovy and Mounjaro.

Keep ReadingShow less
Kamson Pharmacy to deliver more clinical services after installing hub and spoke technology

The FLOWRx auto hub in the new Kamson warehouse in Uckfield.

Kamson Pharmacy to deliver more clinical services after installing hub and spoke technology


Kamsons Pharmacy has announced that it has implemented a state-of-the-art hub and spoke dispensing model with the aim of freeing up more time to deliver clinical services.

Keep ReadingShow less
RPS group aims to tackle barriers holding back black pharmacy students

Work is underway to improve inclusivity in teaching

Pic credit: iStock

RPS group aims to tackle barriers holding back black pharmacy students

A cross-sector group aimed at tackling barriers that block the progression of black students and trainee pharmacists held its first meeting this week.

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) has created the Differential Attainment Oversight Group to address issues that black or black British African student pharmacists and foundation trainees face such as limited access to work experience, financial support and visible role models in education and training.

Keep ReadingShow less
Older adult organizing medicine bottles in a cool, dry storage area during warm weather.

People are being advised to keep medicine below 25° C

Pic credit: iStock

Pharmacies advise patients on storing medicines safely during heatwave

Patients are being given important advice and guidance on the impact heat can have on their medicine and where to keep different medicines as the UK goes through a heatwave.

People are being advised to keep medicine below 25° C if they are able to, unless storage instructions state it needs to be kept at an alternative temperature, such as drugs that need to be refrigerated.

Keep ReadingShow less