shutterstock_706912843_adragan
adragan / Shutterstock.com
4 March 2019Big Pharma

CMA accuses hydrocortisone suppliers of anti-competitive behaviour

The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has provisionally found that pharmaceutical companies  Auden Mckenzie and  Waymade engaged in anti-competitive behaviour relating to hydrocortisone tablets.

In  a press release issued on Thursday, February 28, the CMA said it had made a provisional finding that the two companies may have entered into an unlawful agreement.

Under the agreement, Auden Mckenzie may have made monthly payments to Waymade in exchange for Waymade not entering the 20mg hydrocortisone market, the CMA alleged.

“As a result of this alleged anti-competitive behaviour, the CMA believes the [National Health Service (NHS)] was denied a choice of suppliers and the potential savings resulting from increased competition”, the statement said.

According to the CMA, from 2011 to 2015, when Auden Mckenzie was the sole supplier of 20mg hydrocortisone tablets, charges to the NHS for the medication rose from “around £46 to £90” ($61 to $119) for 30 tablets.

This saw the annual cost to the NHS rise by £2 million to £3.7 million during this period.

The CMA provisionally found that Waymade was ready to enter the 20mg hydrocortisone market in 2011, but did not do so until 2015.

Waymade allegedly froze its stock and entered into a deal with Auden Mckenzie “under which it received monthly payments aimed at delaying its entry as a competitor in the market”, alleged the CMA.

A source familiar with the situation has told LSIPR that Waymade “did not have any stable, safe stock of the product to freeze” at that time.

The CMA also alleged that Auden Mckenzie had agreed a deal under which Waymade would not enter the 10mg hydrocortisone market after Waymade obtained a licence to sell the 10mg products in 2012.

As part of this deal, the CMA said that  “Auden Mckenzie significantly lowered the price it charged Waymade from the market rate of around £32 per pack to £1”.

Michael Grenfell, CMA executive director for enforcement, said that “the NHS should not be denied the opportunity of benefitting from an increased choice of suppliers and potential savings on what it spends on this essential drug”.

As the CMA’s findings are provisional, the companies will be able to make representations to the body before its final decision.

In a statement sent to LSIPR, a spokesperson for Waymade said that the company will explain to the CMA why it is wrong to find that it was ready to enter the 20mg hydrocortisone market in May 2011.

“Waymade bought 20mg hydrocortisone from Auden McKenzie and sold it to third-party wholesalers and retail pharmacists but the prices quoted by the CMA are prices charged by wholesalers to the NHS and bear no relation to Waymade’s prices”, the statement said.

It added: “Waymade’s conduct did not impact the cost to the NHS either before or after Waymade entered the market with its own product.”

Auden Mckenzie is a subsidiary of Israeli company Teva Pharmaceuticals.

In a statement sent to LSIPR, a spokesperson for Teva said that “the allegations relate to historic conduct by a company named Auden McKenzie, which was bought by Actavis prior to Teva’s acquisition of that company in 2016”.

“Neither the product concerned nor Actavis UK were at any time controlled by Teva before being sold on to Intas Pharmaceuticals in 2017”, the statement said.

The spokesperson added: “However, the Auden McKenzie legal entity itself was retained in 2017 and it is only on this basis that Teva is involved in the case”.

Did you enjoy reading this story?  Sign up to our free daily newsletters and get stories sent like this straight to your inbox.


More on this story

Big Pharma
15 August 2019   Drugmaker Aspen has offered to pay the UK’s National Health System £8 million to resolve competition concerns.
Big Pharma
12 March 2020   The UK Competition and Markets Authority has welcomed a Court of Appeal ruling allowing it to press ahead with cases against Pfizer and Flynn Pharma over the unfair pricing of an epilepsy treatment.
Europe
15 July 2021   The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority has imposed fines of £260 million on drug companies for raising the price of life-saving hydrocortisone tablets by 10,000%.

More on this story

Big Pharma
15 August 2019   Drugmaker Aspen has offered to pay the UK’s National Health System £8 million to resolve competition concerns.
Big Pharma
12 March 2020   The UK Competition and Markets Authority has welcomed a Court of Appeal ruling allowing it to press ahead with cases against Pfizer and Flynn Pharma over the unfair pricing of an epilepsy treatment.
Europe
15 July 2021   The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority has imposed fines of £260 million on drug companies for raising the price of life-saving hydrocortisone tablets by 10,000%.