Spain: 10.2 million fine to a pharmaceutical company for “excessive” drug sales price

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Having secured a monopoly, Leadiant set a price “14 times higher” than a similar drug on the Spanish market until 2010

The Spanish Competition Commission (CNMC) announced a fine of 10.2 million euros on the Italian pharmaceutical company Leadiant, accused of marketing at an “excessive” price one of its drugs used to treat a rare disease.

The pharmaceutical company “abused its dominant position in the market” with the drug CDCA-Leadiant, which is used to treat patients with cerebrotendinous xanthomatosis (CTX), a rare disease related to the production of primary bile acids, the Spanish company said in a statement. Competition Commission.

According to the CNMC, the drug is currently “the only one available in Spain to treat this rare disease”. The approximately 50 patients in Spain who suffer from encephalotendinous xanthomatosis must take this drug for life.

Having secured a monopoly, Leadiant set a price “14 times higher” than a similar drug on the Spanish market until 2010, the CNMC points out.

In addition to the $10.2 million fine, the Competition Commission is calling on the pharmaceutical industry to negotiate with Spain’s Ministry of Health to make the drug available at a reduced price.

The Italian pharmaceutical industry was fined 20 million euros by the Dutch Competition Commission. In the Netherlands, a pack of 100 capsules sold for 14,000 euros in 2019, when in 2008 it cost just 46 euros.

RES-EMP

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