(Bloomberg) -- Private equity firm Cinven, drugmaker Advanz Pharma Corp. and Lexon were fined 35 million pounds ($47 million) by the U.K.'s competition watchdog for conspiring to drive up the price of an anti-nausea drug.
The price the National Health Service paid for a pack of prochlorperazine jumped to 51.68 pounds in 2017 from 6.49 pounds in 2013, the Competition and Markets Authority said in a statement Thursday.
“These firms conspired to stifle competition in the supply of this important medication, so that the NHS - the main buyer of the drugs - lost the opportunity for increased choice and lower prices,” CMA chief Andrea Coscelli said in the statement.
Advanz, Cinven, and Lexon have all previously been issued fines in CMA probes, the regulator said Thursday In the case of Advanz and Cinven, the new fine represents the first time a company has been fined by the CMA in three separate investigations.
Advanz and Cinven have filed appeals against the CMA's decisions in the other two investigations in which they have been fined, the regulator said Thursday.
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