Pfizer faces Australia action
pharmafile | February 14, 2014 | News story | Medical Communications, Sales and Marketing | Australia, Lipitor, Pfizer, accc
Pfizer has a legal battle on its hands in Australia, where the country’s consumer watchdog has begun proceedings in the Federal Court over what it says is anti-competitive action by the manufacturer.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is suing Pfizer Australia because, it says, the company misused its market power in deals relating to the supply of the generic version of Lipitor to pharmacies.
Anti-cholesterol brand Lipitor (atorvastatin) went off patent in Australia in May 2012, before which date it had annual sales of more than A$700 million (£370 million) and was prescribed to over one million people in the country.
ACCC claims that in early 2012 before the loss of exclusivity, Pfizer began offering ‘significant discounts’ plus payment of rebates previously built up on sales of Lipitor to pharmacies – as long as pharmacists bought “a minimum volume of up to 12 months’ supply” of Pfizer’s own generic atorvastatin product.
The watchdog believes this would contravene Australia’s Competition and Consumer Act 2010, and says that when these offers were first made other generics manufacturers were prevented from making competing offers to pharmacies.
“The ACCC alleges that Pfizer engaged in this conduct for the purpose of deterring or preventing competitors in the market for atorvastatin from engaging in competitive conduct, as well as for the purpose of substantially lessening competition,” said ACCC chairman Rod Sims.
Stamping out anti-competitive conduct is one of the ACCC’s enforcement priorities – in part because of the ultimate harm it can cause to consumers, “particularly with such a widely used product”.
“This case also raises an important public interest issue regarding the conduct of a patent holder nearing the expiry of that patent and what constitutes permissible competitive conduct,” Sims added.
For its part, Pfizer says the offers it made were competitive: the initial hearing will be held at Sydney’s Federal Court on 18 March.
Adam Hill
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