Dutch regulator fines Italian pharma firm nearly 20 million euros
for hiking drug price by more than 30,000%
20 Jul, 2021 08:38
The Netherlands has ordered an Italian drug maker to cough up nearly 20 million euros ($23.58 million), after the pharma firm inflated the price of one of its medications by an eye-watering 30,000%.
In a decision issued on Monday, the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) said that the drug manufacturer, Leadiant, had charged “far too high a price” for a prescription medication used in the treatment of patients with a rare hereditary metabolic disorder known as cerebrotendinous xanthomatosis. Around sixty patients in the country suffer from the disorder, which requires life-long treatment, the ACM said in its statement.
The drug, chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA), has been in existence for years and was marketed under a variety of names. In 2008, Leadiant acquired a CDCA-based drug from another manufacturer.
According to the ACM, at the time the maximum price in the Netherlands for the medication was 46 euros for a package of 100 capsules. A year later, the Italian pharma firm renamed the drug Xenbilox and hiked its price to 885 euros. The price increases continued as Leadiant began to monopolize the CDCA-based drug market in Europe. By 2017, the drug had a price tag of 14,000 euros – sending the cost skyrocketing 30,334% when compared to its 2008 price.
The Dutch regulator imposed a fine of 19,569,500 euros on Leadiant, and condemned the company’s business practices.
“After a small, low-risk investment, Leadiant implemented a huge price increase for a drug that had already existed for years. In this case, there was no innovation at all. We consider this to be a very serious violation,” Martijn Snoep, head of the ACM, said.
And it seems that Leadiant now has a low-cost competitor in the Netherlands: In January 2020, the country began domestic production of its own CDCA-based drug.
As I have often complained, Big Pharma has very little interest in the curing or the suffering of its customers. Their only concern is their bottom line - the dividends they pay to their shareholders. People like the managers of Leadiant should be in prison.
National governments should work with universities to create new medications with the help of the WHO for clinical trials. The purpose should be stated as reducing the suffering and the costs of people who need medications.
National governments should work with universities to create new medications with the help of the WHO for clinical trials. The purpose should be stated as reducing the suffering and the costs of people who need medications.
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