The Competition and Markets Authority has imposed a record GBP 84.2M fine on the pharmaceutical manufacturer Pfizer (PFE), and a GBP 5.2M fine on the distributor Flynn Pharma after finding that each broke competition law by charging excessive and unfair prices in the UK for phenytoin sodium capsules, an anti-epilepsy drug.

The CMA has also ordered the companies to reduce their prices.The fines follow prices increasing by up to 2,600% overnight after the drug was deliberately de-branded in September 2012. For example, the amount the NHS was charged for 100mg packs of the drug rocketed from GBP 2.83 to GBP 67.50, before reducing to GBP 54.00 from May 2014. As a result of the price increases, NHS expenditure on phenytoin sodium capsules increased from about GBP 2 million a year in 2012 to about GBP 50 million in 2013.

The prices of the drug in the UK have also been many times higher than Pfizer's prices for the same drug in any other European country. The final decision and fines relate to both the prices that Pfizer has charged to Flynn Pharma and the prices that Flynn Pharma has charged to its customers, since September 2012. The CMA has found that both companies have held a dominant position in their respective markets for the manufacture and supply of phenytoin sodium capsules and each has abused that dominant position by charging excessive and unfair prices. In order to ensure that there should be no risk to the ongoing supply of phenytoin sodium capsules to those patients who rely on it, the CMA has given Pfizer and Flynn between 30 working days and 4 months to reduce their respective prices. Both companies will continue to be able to charge prices which are profitable, but their prices must not be excessive and unfair.