The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has imposed record fines on more than ten pharmaceutical companies, totaling £260 million ($360 million), for raising the price of a box of a hormone drug supplied to the National Health Service (NHS) from 70 pence to £88 in less than eight years. The CMA announced on Thursday that these violations resulted in an increase of over ten thousand percent for single packs of 10 mg and 20 mg hydrocortisone tablets in 2016 compared to what was paid in 2008.
Hydrocortisone is used to treat conditions where the adrenal glands do not produce sufficient hormones, including the life-threatening Addison's disease.
The CMA stated that companies, including Actavis and its former parent, Allergan, now owned by AbbVie, violated competition rules. The authority explained that these companies engaged in practices that included purchasing potential competing companies to keep their drug alternatives off the market and raising the price of hydrocortisone, claiming that they were the sole supplier to the NHS while systematically keeping competitors at bay over the years.
Andrea Coscelli, the head of the CMA, said, "These are undoubtedly some of the most serious violations we have uncovered in recent years. Our fine serves as a warning to any other pharmaceutical company looking to exploit the NHS."
