LONDON (AP) — British regulators have fined U.S. drugmaker Pfizer and distributor Flynn Pharma almost 90 million pounds ($114.6 million) for increasing the cost of an epilepsy drug by as much as 2,600 percent.
The Competition and Markets Authority says Pfizer and Flynn Pharma broke competition law by charging "excessive and unfair prices" for the drug used by some 48,000 people in Britain. Pfizer was fined 84.2 million pounds ($106 million) and Flynn Pharma 5.2 million pounds.
The authority says the companies intentionally rebranded a drug previously known as Epanutin so they could increase the price. As a result, the National Health Service saw the price of phenytoin sodium capsules increase from 2 million pounds a year in 2012 to about 50 million pounds in 2013.
Pfizer plans to appeal.