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The Court of Appeal has ruled unanimously to prevent an appeal from pharmaceutical company Advanz and private equity firm Cinven over their NHS price-gouging– with Cinven’s financial penalty rising by £15m as a result. 

In a judgment handed down yesterday, the court upheld the previous findings of both the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) that Advanz had engaged in “excessive and unfair pricing” relating to liothyronine tablets. 

As the sole supplier of the tablets in the UK, between 2009 and 2017 Advanz raised the price it charged the NHS by over 1,110 per cent – from £20 to £248 per box. 

Annual NHS spending on the product rose from over £2.3m in 2009 to more than £30m by 2016. 

Former owners HgCapital and Cinven were also fined, with the latter seeing its penalty revert to £51.9m after the Court of Appeal quashed the CAT’s decision to reduce it to £37.1m. 

In the decision announced yesterday, the Court of Appeal stated that Advanz Pharma and Cinven have no arguable basis for challenging the CAT’s 2023 decision to uphold the initial 2021 findings of the CMA.  

CMA chief executive Sarah Cardell commented: “This is another resounding win for the CMA in this case – and a vote of confidence for the work we do to protect consumers and tackle illegal behaviour.

“Prices charged to the NHS, and ultimately taxpayers, must be fair. We will continue to stand up for patients and take action against companies that abuse their market power, thereby harming consumers and the wider economy.”