Senator calls for FTC to investigate drugmakers for antitrust violations

Home/Policies & Legislation | Posted 06/11/2015 post-comment0 Post your comment

In light of recent drug price increases a US Senator has called on the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate pharmaceutical companies for possible antitrust violations.

Review committee V15a16

The call comes after Turing Pharmaceuticals (Turing) increased the price of its newly acquired 62-year-old infectious disease drug Daraprim (pyrimethamine) from US$13.50 a tablet to US$750 – a 5,000% price hike. Although the company did make a bit of a u-turn on the price after coming under sharp criticism of its action by patients, medical groups and US democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

Daraprim is used to treat toxoplasmosis, a parasitic infection that is particularly dangerous for people who have weakened immune systems, like AIDS and cancer patients, as well as pregnant women. 

US Senator Amy Klobuchar has asked the FTC to investigate pharmaceutical companies, such as Turing, for possible antitrust violations, as it is thought that Turing and other pharmaceutical companies could be restricting drug distribution in a manner that violates the antitrust laws established in the Federal Trade Commission Act.

Senator Klobuchar writes that ‘some companies may be combining a substantial price increase for a prescription medication with a closed distribution system’. She adds that ‘if the restricted distribution prevents or delays generic [drug] competition, it could subject consumers to unnecessarily high prescription drug prices’.

The news follows Hilary Clinton’s proposal for a US$250 monthly cap on out-of-pocket prescription drug costs and other measures to stop what she called ‘price gouging’ by pharmaceutical companies.

Increases in generics prices have also been under increased scrutiny after Senators Sanders and Cummings pointed to ‘staggering price increases’ in the range of 390–8,200% across 10 products and asked 14 generics makers to submit detailed information on the reasons for this [1]. This action also resulted in the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to initiate an investigation, which will cover prices for the top 200 generics between 2005 and 2014 to determine the extent to which they exceed inflation [2].

Related articles
Generics prices in US decrease again in 2013

Pharmacist survey highlights increasing generics costs

References
 1.   GaBI Online - Generics and Biosimilars Initiative. Investigation into huge price increases for generics in the US [www.gabionline.net]. Mol, Belgium: Pro Pharma Communications International; [cited 2015 Nov 6]. Available from: www.gabionline.net/Generics/General/Investigation-into-huge-price-increases-for-generics-in-the-US
2.   GaBI Online - Generics and Biosimilars Initiative. Soaring generics prices come under increased scrutiny [www.gabionline.net]. Mol, Belgium: Pro Pharma Communications International; [cited 2015 Nov 6]. Available from: www.gabionline.net/Generics/General/Soaring-generics-prices-come-under-increased-scrutiny

Permission granted to reproduce for personal and non-commercial use only. All other reproduction, copy or reprinting of all or part of any ‘Content’ found on this website is strictly prohibited without the prior consent of the publisher. Contact the publisher to obtain permission before redistributing.

Copyright – Unless otherwise stated all contents of this website are © 2015 Pro Pharma Communications International. All Rights Reserved.

Source: Klobuchar

comment icon Comments (0)
Post your comment
Related content
Public consultation for the modification of the biosimilars regulation
02 AA010638
Home/Policies & Legislation Posted 16/01/2024
COFEPRIS promotes regulatory cooperation in the Americas
Latin America 1638px
Home/Policies & Legislation Posted 12/12/2023
ANVISA's decision on 'Skinny labels' for generics pending
Labelling V14I26
Home/Policies & Legislation Posted 14/11/2023
Most viewed articles
About GaBI
Home/About GaBI Posted 06/08/2009
EU guidelines for biosimilars
EMA logo 1 V13C15
Home/Guidelines Posted 08/10/2010