In Business news

Follow this topic

Bookmark

Record learning outcomes

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has welcomed the Court of Appeal’s decision to overturn a previous finding that the watchdog had relied on flawed logic when it imposed a fine of £70m on Pfizer and Flynn for charging excessive prices for epilepsy drug phenytoin.

The CMA first imposed the fine on the two drugs firms in 2022, having found that they abused their dominant position as suppliers of phenytoin in the UK, causing annual NHS spend on the drug to rise from £2m to £50m.

In November 2024, the Competition Appeals Tribunal (CAT) said it agreed with the drug firms that the CMA had made procedural errors and failed to make a proper assessment of unfairness, although it agreed a breach of competition law had taken place and imposed a reduced fine of £69m.

But on Friday, the Court of Appeal found that the CAT had  “misread, or mischaracterised, the CMA’s decision on critical issues” and should not have set it aside.

Overturning the CAT’s decision, the court said it had been wrong to determine that the CMA had examined evidence “in a biased and selective way”.

The CMA’s Juliette Enser said: “This is an important judgment from the Court of Appeal.

“Phenytoin is a vital drug relied on by thousands to prevent life-threatening seizures, and the CMA found that these companies exploited their positions to charge the NHS excessive prices.

“The judgment confirms the CAT was wrong to set aside the CMA’s decision – recognising that our findings were based on a fair and robust assessment of the evidence.

“We will now make submissions to the court in advance of its further ruling.”