Britain’s competition watchdog has fined Pfizer a record 98 million euros for radically raising the cost of an epilepsy drug.<br /><br /> In the UK the price for 100mg of phenytoin sodium capsules jumped from three euros to 78 euros in 2012, before reducing to 63 from May 2014.<br /><br /> The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) also fined Flynn Pharma, a privately owned British firm, six million euros for overcharging for phenytoin sodium capsules, following a dramatic hike in 2012.<br /><br /> Pfizer used to market the medicine under the brand name Epanutin but sold the rights to Flynn, a privately owned British company, in September 2012.<br /><br /> The CMA’s ruling comes amid a growing debate on both sides of the Atlantic about the ethics of price hikes for old off-patent medicines that are only made by a few firms and where there is little competition.<br />
