Vifor Pharma has committed to “make a voluntary payment of £23 million to the NHS” and correct “potentially misleading communications” about its IV iron medicine following an investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), it last week (May 23) revealed.
The CMA investigated concerns that Vifor “engaged in a communication campaign that included making potentially misleading claims” about a competitor’s high-dose IV iron treatment, the decision document said.
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The watchdog added that Vifor’s claims, which appeared to come “in response to the competitive threat posed”, were capable of “influencing the decisions” of prescribers and “could have had a financial impact on the NHS”.
Vifor yesterday (May 28) told C+D that it “contests that it has engaged in unlawful conduct contrary to UK competition law”, stressing that its promised NHS payment and other commitments “were offered without any admission of liability”. Read its response in full below.
“Intended to influence”
The CMA said that when Vifor started selling its IV iron treatment named Ferinject in 2007, it “was the only high-dose IV iron product available in the UK”.
But in 2010, “Monofer entered the UK market as an alternative high-dose IV iron treatment to Ferinject”, it added.
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“In response”, Vifor “appeared” to engage in a campaign that made “potentially misleading claims about the safety of Monofer” to healthcare professionals (HCPs), it said.
These claims included that the competitor’s product was associated with a “higher incidence of hypersensitivity reactions” compared to Ferinject, it added.
The CMA’s “preliminary view was that the claims were specifically intended to influence decisions by relevant HCPs as to whether to select Ferinject or Monofer”, it said.
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It added that the claims were therefore “capable of having an effect on competition”.
And because “Monofer was cheaper than Ferinject throughout the relevant period” and required “fewer infusions and hospital visits per patient”, the claims “could have had a financial impact on the NHS”, it found.
“Voluntary payment”
“To address the CMA’s competition concerns, Vifor Pharma has committed to make a voluntary payment of £23m to the NHS” via the Department of Health and Social Care (DH), the CMA said.
Vifor also promised to “undertake a comprehensive, multichannel clarification communication campaign…that aims at addressing and clarifying the potentially harmful effects of the suspected conduct”, it added.
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And the pharmaceutical company also agreed to “introduce several compliance measures to prevent the future dissemination of potentially misleading communications”, it added.
Decision documents revealed that an independent monitoring trustee “will be appointed to monitor compliance with the commitments” including written reports to the CMA.
Vifor “grateful”
Vifor told C+D it is “pleased” that the CMA decided to accept the commitments and conclude its investigation.
“For the avoidance of doubt, Vifor contests that it has engaged in unlawful conduct contrary to UK competition law and emphasises that the commitments were offered without any admission of liability,” it added.
“Vifor is fully committed to comply with its obligations and to implement all necessary measures described in the commitments that are now officially in force,” it said.
“We are grateful for the constructive discussions with the CMA,” it added.
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The news comes after the CMA’s decision to fine pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Flynn almost £70m was upheld by the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) in November.
At the time, the CAT found that Pfizer and Flynn “abused their dominant positions by charging excessive prices for a life-saving epilepsy drug, phenytoin sodium capsules, between 2012 and 2016”.
The price gauging upped NHS spending on phenytoin sodium capsules by £48m in a year, it found.
