UK: CMA accuses pharma firms of market allocation

In a press release published on its website, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) wrote that it has issued a Statement of Objections to Advanz (formerly known as AMCo), Morningside, and a wholesaler, Alliance Healthcare concerning non-compete agreements the companies entered from 2014 until at least October, 2017.

In a Statement of Objections, the CMA alleges that the suppliers—Advanz and Morningside—entered into arrangements under which Alliance Healthcare would buy equal volumes of the drug from each of the 2 suppliers so that they would not compete. During 2015 and 2016, the 2 suppliers also committed to supply the drug exclusively to Alliance Healthcare.

The CMA has also provisionally found that, in May 2014, Advanz disclosed sensitive pricing information to Morningside with the aim of reducing competition between them.

Ann Pope, the CMA’s Senior Director of Antitrust, said, “Drug companies that break competition law risk forcing the NHS, and UK taxpayers, to pay over the odds for important medical treatments.

“We’ve provisionally found that suppliers of this important antibiotic entered into arrangements with the aim of keeping Nitrofurantoin prices artificially high, meaning the NHS wouldn’t benefit from the lower prices that come from effective competition.”