UK antitrust watchdog secures reversal in Pfizer epilepsy drug pricing case

Britain's Competition and Markets Authority has welcomed a Court of Appeal ruling that overturned an earlier decision finding the regulator had relied on flawed reasoning when it fined Pfizer (PFE) and Flynn Pharma £70mn for excessive pricing of the epilepsy drug phenytoin.

The CMA originally imposed the penalty on the two pharmaceutical companies in 2022, after determining that they had abused a dominant position as suppliers of phenytoin in the UK. The regulator found that the companies' conduct caused annual National Health Service spending on the drug to rise from £2mn to £50mn.

The Competition Appeals Tribunal ruled in November 2024 that the CMA had made procedural errors and had failed to properly assess whether the pricing was unfair, siding with the drugmakers on those points even as it upheld a finding that competition law had been breached. The tribunal imposed a reduced fine of £69mn.

However, the Court of Appeal found that the tribunal had misread or mischaracterized the CMA's decision on critical issues and should not have set it aside. The court rejected the tribunal's determination that the CMA had reviewed evidence in a biased and selective manner, reversing its findings.

Juliette Enser, an official at the CMA, said the ruling was an important judgment from the Court of Appeal. She said phenytoin was a vital drug relied on by thousands of patients to prevent life-threatening seizures, and that the CMA had found the companies exploited their market position to charge the NHS excessive prices.

Enser added that the judgment confirmed the tribunal had been wrong to set aside the CMA's decision, and that it recognized the regulator's findings were based on a fair and robust assessment of the evidence. The CMA said it would now make submissions to the court ahead of its further ruling.