The Court of Appeal (CoA) has today, 28 July 2026, confirmed that Auden Mckenzie and Actavis UK charged excessive and unfair prices for hydrocortisone tablets between 2008 and 2018. This ruling upholds the earlier findings of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT).
Hydrocortisone tablets are vital for tens of thousands of people in the UK with life-threatening conditions such as Addison’s disease. The drug, introduced in 1955, cost less than £1 per pack in 2007. After Auden Mckenzie acquired the licences in 2008, prices rose to over £70 per pack by 2016, leading to an increase in NHS annual spending from approximately £500,000 to over £80 million.
The CMA found that the price increases did not reflect any rise in costs or investment. The firms also bought out competitors to delay market entry. In July 2021, the CMA concluded that Auden Mckenzie and Actavis UK had abused a dominant position and entered into anti-competitive agreements, imposing penalties totalling £266 million. The CAT upheld these findings in 2023, subject to a £26 million penalty reduction for a former parent company.
The CoA has dismissed the firms’ appeals against the CAT’s judgment regarding the infringements. However, the CoA decided that the firms’ appeals on penalties should be remitted to the CAT for reconsideration, as the CAT had not properly addressed them. Juliette Enser, Executive Director for Competition Enforcement, stated that the ruling shows the CMA was right to act against firms exploiting the NHS.