A Dutch watchdog fined Italian drug manufacturer Leadiant 19,569,500 euros for jacking up the price of a prescription medication it acquired
A Dutch watchdog fined Italian drug manufacturer Leadiant 19,569,500 euros for jacking up the price of a prescription medication it acquired in 2008. At that time, the drug cost 46 euros for a package of 100 capsules, but essentially the same medication was being sold for 14 thousand euros in 2017, the Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) alleged.
The drug is based on chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA) and is used to treat people with cerebrotendineous xanthomatosis, a rare metabolic disorder. About sixty people in the Netherlands suffer from the disease, which requires use of the medicine for the rest of their lives, the ACM said.
Leadiant acquired the drug in 2008, changed the brand name to Xenbilox, and raised the price 19-fold to 885 euros per 100 capsules. Five years later, Xenibilox was granted "orphan drug designation", meaning that its use is so rare it requires government support to be deemed profitable. At that point, the price was raised to 3,103 euros.
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Last week the UK fined pharma companies for overpricing, this week it's the Netherlands.
