Durban-headquartered pharmaceutical company, Aspen, [JSE: APN] confirmed that it will pay a £2 101 954 (about R45 million at current exchange rates) fine to the UK Competition Markets Authority, following the conclusion of an investigation dating back to 2017. In a notice to shareholders on Thursday, Aspen – the largest pharmaceutical company in Africa – said the matter was finally now closed. The UK competition watchdog in October 2017 launched an investigation into Aspen over alleged anti-competitive conduct in relation to two drugs - Fludrocortisone and Dexamethasone, both steroids. The authority said the matter related to Aspen’s acquisition in October 2016 of marketing authorisations for fludrocortisone acetate 0.1 mg tablets in the UK. At the time, Aspen already "held the only other such product authorised for sale in the UK".

Source: News 24 July 09, 2020 08:15 UTC