Two pharma companies admit to price-fixing collusion

Two pharma companies in the UK have admitted to sharing “commercially sensitive” information about their drugs to help keep prices high.

The companies — King Pharmaceuticals and Alissa Healthcare Research — admitted to the illegal collusion about their antidepressant drug, nortriptyline, during an investigation by the country’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). Another company involved in the investigation — Lexon Limited — has admitted no wrong-doing.

Thousands of patients in the UK reportedly take nortriptyline to ease depression symptoms, and the country’s National Health Service spent £38 million covering the drug in 2015.

The CMA has been investigating the companies’ activities related to pricing collusion between 2015 and 2017.