UK competition watchdog investigating ‘immediate’ government action on PCR test prices August 13, 2021 The UK competition regulator has said it is exploring what immediate action the government can take to quash the hugely variable prices charged by private providers of Covid PCR tests for travel, after the health secretary, MPs and the travel industry called for an intervention. In a statement published yesterday, the Competition and Markets Authority [...]
CMA accuses pharma firms Pfizer and Flynn of charging NHS illegal prices for anti-epilepsy drug August 5, 2021 The UK’s competition watchdog has accused pharmaceutical firms Pfizer and Flynn of breaking competition law and overcharging the NHS for crucial anti-epilepsy drugs, in a new re-investigation following a years-long battle with the companies. Pfizer and Flynn “abused their dominant positions” and charged the NHS “unfairly high prices” for life-saving phenytoin sodium capsules, for which they [...]
CMA hits firms with £100m in fines for making drugs unaffordable for the NHS July 29, 2021 Drug company Advanz, as well as two private equity firms, have been hit with fines of over £100m by the UK’s competition watchdog for hiking vital drug prices. The investigation found that Advanz pushed up prices for thyroid tablet packs, known as liothyronine tablets, more than tenfold. A pack would have cost just £20 in [...]
Fake reviews could be outlawed in consumer protection overhaul July 20, 2021 Paying for someone to write or host fake reviews online could be made illegal under new plans to ramp up protection for consumers. The government has unveiled proposals to crack down on fake reviews as part of a wider package of measures targeting “consumer catfishers” who use dodgy tactics to dupe online shoppers. It has [...]
CMA slaps pharma firms with £260m in fines for hiking prices for NHS July 15, 2021 The UK’s competition watchdog has slapped drug companies with fines totalling more than £260m for hiking prices for the NHS. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said prices of “life-saving” hydrocortisone tablets had risen by over 10,000 per cent. The price hike equated to the NHS being charged £80 for a single pack of tablets [...]
Former competition chief urges government to speed up CMA overhaul July 2, 2021 The former chairman of the UK’s competition watchdog has called on the government to speed up an overhaul of the organisation. Lord Andrew Tyrie, who chaired the Competition and Markets Authority from 2018 to 2020, warned that the organisation’s effectiveness will be eroded unless it is urgently reformed, in a report published today. Speaking to [...]
Google delays cookie ban after UK watchdog pressure June 25, 2021 Google has delayed plans to remove third-party cookies from its Chrome browser by almost two years following pressure from rivals and competition regulators. The search engine giant had planned to ban companies from gathering users’ browsing data from January next year, but has now pushed back the move to the end of 2023. Google said [...]
Amazon and Google hit with competition probe over fake reviews June 25, 2021 Amazon and Google have been hit with a competition probe in the UK over concerns they have not done enough to tackle fake reviews on their sites. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) today opened a formal investigation into the tech platforms to examine whether they have broken consumer laws by taking insufficient action to [...]
UK credit score giant Clearscore heading for unicorn status after $200m Invus injection June 24, 2021 Clearscore, a free-to-use credit check company based in London, has reportedly accepted a $200m (£144m) investment from US-based fund Invus Opportunities. As reported by Sky News, the deal values the company at $700m (£503m), placing it on track for unicorn valuation. The company plans to use the funding to grow its staff numbers, product offerings [...]
Watchdog warns Monzo and NatWest over banking transaction history breaches June 22, 2021 Britain’s competition watchdog has issued a warning to banks including Monzo and NatWest over breaching rules requiring them to send banking transaction histories to former account holders. Nearly 150,000 customers were not provided with the necessary information quickly enough, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said today. Monzo was responsible for the largest portion of [...]