The Australian unit of Pfizer Inc is said to have been sued by the competition regulator of the country. Bloomberg said that the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission sued the unit for abusing its market power in relation to the sales of its the generic brand of Lipitor, its cholesterol drug.
Today, the Australian regulator said it filed charges against Pfizer Australia Pty in a Sydney federal court and claimed that the domestic Pfizer unit breached competition rules via its 2012 deals with pharmacies for the sale of atorvastatin. Bloomberg was not able to obtain a copy of the filing immediately.
The biggest-selling prescription drug in Australia under the country's federal drug plan has its patent protection expired in May two years ago. Lipitor at that time was issued as a prescription to over a million Australians, which resorted to Pfrizer posting annual sales of over A$700 million or $625 million, said the ACCC. The ACCC added that prior to the patent protection expiry of Pfizer's atorvastatin in the country, the pharmaceutical giant had struck a deal with pharmacies by extending discounts and rebates under the condition that the latter's purchase of atorvastatin, the generic equivalent of Lipitor, should be a minimum of a year's supply.
ACCC Chairman Rod Sims' statement read, "Pfizer engaged in this conduct for the purpose of deterring or preventing competitors in the market for atorvastatin from engaging in competitive conduct. This case also raises an important public interest issue regarding the conduct of a patent holder nearing the expiry of that patent."
In an emailed statement today, Pfizer said the offerings it extended to pharmacies in Australia were competitive in nature, implying that it did not believe that it had violated competition laws. Pfizer also added that it will no longer make any comments about the case as it had already been brought up in court.
ACCC, on the other hand, said that it is looking for declarations and pecuniary penalties, but failed to provide any other details regarding the matter. It also said that a preliminary hearing is set to be held on the 18th of March.
