The South African pharmaceutical company Aspen announces that it plans to lower the prices of six important cancer drugs. In doing so, the company is responding to pressure from European competition watchdogs. An average price drop of 73 percent is promised.
The cancer drug manufacturer Aspen, under pressure from European competition watchdogs, has offered to significantly lower the prices of six important drugs. The offer provides for an average price drop of 73 percent, as the EU Commission said. According to a spokeswoman for the commission, the offer was already submitted in October 2019, but was initially not published. The commission now wants to use a survey to clarify whether the company's offer is sufficient for patients and health systems.
"Pharmaceutical companies often bring innovative medicines onto the market, and that should pay off for them," said EU Vice-President Margrethe Vestager in Brussels. At times, however, they also used their dominant position to raise the prices of older but still indispensable drugs by several hundred percent without good reason.
Test procedure against Aspen
The Commission launched an investigation against Aspen in May 2017. At that time, the competition authorities determined that the Group's prices were on average almost 300 percent higher than the relevant costs. "By increasing prices, often by several hundred percent, the South African company took advantage of the fact that there was usually no alternative to cancer drugs for patients and doctors," the EU Commission said at the time. The drugs Alkeran, Leukeran and Purinethol were affected. According to the Commission, Aspen's behavior may constitute a prohibited abuse of its dominant position.
The European consumer association Beuc welcomed the commitment of the EU Commission. "The commitments show that high prices for patent-free medicines are unjustified and have no place in the EU," said managing director Monique Goyens. Dizzying prices are endangering patients' lives and causing serious financial damage to health systems.
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