‘Excessive Pricing’ Inquiry Widens As EC’s First Antitrust Price Probe Targets Aspen Pharma

The litany of complaints against pharmaceutical companies for imposing “excessive” prices on generic drugs is growing after the European Commission decided to pursue Aspen Pharma over price rises imposed on a range of anticancer products it acquired from GSK.

Ballon and pin
European Commission Tackles Aspen's Drug Price Inflation • Source: Shutterstock

Pharmaceutical companies’ pricing strategies have come under even closer antitrust scrutiny in the EU after Aspen Pharmacare Holdings Ltd. became the subject of the European Commission’s first inquiry into “excessive” pricing in the pharmaceutical industry.

The commission said it would be looking into whether Aspen abused a dominant market position by using the threat of product withdrawals to impose “very significant and unjustified...

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