Concordia International Is Under Accusation for Hiking The Drug Prices

Concordia Healthcare Corp is a publicly traded pharmaceutical company based in Canada. The company focuses on Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, cancer and asthma. The company has been accused by the British watchdog for hiking the thyroid drug price and can impose a fine of up to 10 percent of Concordia’s annual worldwide turnover.

Between November 2007 and July 2017, the amount the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) paid per pack rose from £4.46 to £258.19 — an increase of almost 6,000 percent. The Canadian company is accused of making around tens of millions of dollars by overcharging the British healthcare system and exploiting its patients.

The company was founded in December 2012 and has since pursued a corporate strategy of growth-through-acquisition, much like fellow Canadian company Valeant Pharmaceuticals. Concordia uses Cardinal Health as its main distribution chain partner. The company also focuses on acquiring legacy pharmaceutical compounds which are usually off patent. Concordia Healthcare Corp currently comprises three companies: Concordia Pharmaceuticals Inc., Pinnacle Biologics Inc., and Complete Medical Homecare Inc. 

Until this year, Concordia International was the U.K.’s only provider of liothyronine, a thyroid drug that’s primarily used to treat a condition caused by a deficiency of thyroid hormone. As the price of the medicine is skyrocketed, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) responded to those concerns. Hiking the price of liothyronine has raised a fire in the UK, even when the production cost remains as the same. Even then the company has no sudden plans to reduce the price it seems.