The CMA has provisionally found that 4 pharmaceutical companies broke the law by agreeing not to compete in the supply of an anti-nausea drug in the UK.

In a statement of objections issued today, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) alleges that, between June 2013 and July 2018, Alliance, Focus, Lexon and Medreich agreed not to compete for the supply of prescription-only Prochlorperazine 3mg dissolvable or “buccal” tablets to the NHS. Prochlorperazine is an important drug used to treat nausea and dizziness.

Between December 2013 and December 2017, the prices paid by the NHS for Prochlorperazine rose by around 700% from £6.49 per pack of 50 tablets to £51.68. From 2014 to 2018, the annual costs incurred by the NHS for Prochlorperazine increased from around £2.7 million to around £7.5 million, even though the number of packs dispensed fell.

The CMA has provisionally found that Lexon and Medreich were paid a share of the profits earned by Focus on the supply of the Alliance product, and agreed not to compete for the supply of Prochlorperazine in the UK.

The CMA provisionally finds that Alliance, Focus, Lexon and Medreich entered into an overarching agreement that was implemented through 2 separate agreements – one between Alliance and Focus, and one between Focus, Lexon and Medreich. Under these alleged agreements Alliance supplied Prochlorperazine exclusively to Focus. Focus then paid Lexon a share of the profits it earned on the onward sales of Alliance’s Prochlorperazine. Lexon, in turn, shared these payments with Medreich.

In its provisional findings the CMA alleges that, before entering into this arrangement, Lexon and Medreich had been taking steps to launch their jointly developed Prochlorperazine. Although Medreich obtained a licence to supply Prochlorperazine in January 2014, it did not supply the product until November 2017.

The CMA alleges that each of the agreements between Alliance and Focus and between Focus, Lexon and Medreich, individually broke competition law.

Ann Pope, CMA Senior Director of Antitrust, said:

Agreements where a company pays a rival not to enter the market can lead to higher prices and deprive the NHS of huge savings that often result from competition between drug suppliers.

The NHS should not be denied the opportunity of benefitting from an increased choice of suppliers, or lower prices, for important medicine.

This is the CMA’s provisional finding and the companies now have the chance to make representations to the CMA before it reaches a final decision.

For more information see the pharmaceuticals: suspected anti-competitive agreements case page.

Notes to editors

1. The over-arching agreement referred to in the SO commenced in June 2013, and the CMA believes continued until July 2018. Medreich was party to the alleged infringing agreement from February 2014 until February 2018.

2. The Statement of Objections is addressed to: (i) Alliance Pharmaceuticals Limited and Alliance Pharma plc; (ii) Focus Pharmaceuticals Limited, Focus Pharma Holdings Limited, Mercury Pharma Group Limited, Concordia Investment Holdings (UK) Limited, Concordia Investments (Jersey) Limited and Advanz Pharma Corporation; (iii) Cinven Capital Management (V) General Partner Limited, Cinven (Luxco 1) S.A. and Cinven Partners LLP; (iv) Lexon (UK) Limited and Lexon UK Holdings Limited; and (v) Medreich plc, Medreich Ltd, Meiji Seika Pharma Co. Ltd and Meiji Holdings Co. Ltd.

3. In this Statement of Objections, the CMA proposes to find (in some cases for part of the time period under investigation) that the following legal entities formed part of: (i) the undertaking referred to as Alliance – Alliance Pharmaceuticals Limited and Alliance Pharma plc; (ii) the undertaking referred to as Focus – Focus Pharmaceuticals Limited, Focus Pharma Holdings Limited, Mercury Pharma Group Limited, Concordia Investment Holdings (UK) Limited, Concordia Investments (Jersey) Limited, Advanz Pharma Corporation, Cinven Capital Management (V) General Partner Limited, Cinven (Luxco 1) S.A. and Cinven Partners LLP; (iii) the undertaking referred to as Lexon – Lexon (UK) Limited and Lexon UK Holdings Limited; and (iv) the undertaking referred to as Medreich – Medreich plc, Medreich Ltd, Meiji Seika Pharma Co. Ltd and Meiji Holdings Co. Ltd.

4. A Statement of Objections gives parties notice of a proposed infringement decision under the competition law prohibitions in the Competition Act 1998 and EU law equivalents. It is a provisional decision only and does not necessarily lead to an infringement decision. Parties have the opportunity to make written and oral representations on the matters set out in the Statement of Objections. Any such representations will be considered by the CMA before a final decision is made. The final decision will be taken by a case decision group, which is separate from the investigation team and was not involved in the decision to issue the Statement of Objections.

5. The Statement of Objections will not be published. However, any person who wishes to comment on the CMA’s provisional findings, and who is in a position materially to assist the CMA in testing its factual, legal or economic arguments, may request a non-confidential version of the Statement of Objections by contacting the CMA.

6. Media queries should be directed to press@cma.gov.uk, or call 020 3738 6460.

Innovative ideas from crime-fighting drones to tracking down trolleys are among the winners of the UK Space Agency’s SatelLife competition for young people.

Innovative ideas from crime-fighting drones to tracking down trolleys are among the winners of the UK Space Agency’s SatelLife competition for young people.

The winners, all aged between 11 and 22, will now go on to pitch their ideas to a panel of industry experts in the hope of gaining further support to develop them. In previous years this has led to job offers, extra funding and support to build prototypes.

Lowena Hull, a student from Portsmouth, scooped the overall individual prize of £7,500 for her idea to track abandoned supermarket trolleys. Four teenagers from Cornwall won the overall group prize of £7,500 for an app to find public toilets.

Space is one of the fastest growing sectors in the UK and it is estimated an additional 30,000 new career opportunities could be created by 2030. Now in its third year, the SatelLife competition aims to encourage young people to think about how satellites impact our everyday lives and learn more about the careers available in the sector.

Science Minister Chris Skidmore said:

These extraordinary ideas on how to use space technology for everyday problems are a testament to the inventiveness of our brilliant young people.

We are backing the UK’s thriving space sector in our modern Industrial Strategy to make sure young people, like all those who took part in this competition, have opportunities to work in this exciting industry in the future.

The UK is already a world-leader in satellite building and we are backing plans for the first spaceports which will see satellites launched into space from British soil for the first time.

Lowena Hull, 17, an A-level student from Portsmouth, who came up with her winning idea after seeing abandoned shopping trolleys in her area, said:

I started looking into it and the more research I did the more I realised it’s a massive issue and really bad for the environment. I heard about the SatelLife competition online and it looked like such a great competition. Space has always been a topic that has fascinated me and I’ve grown more interested as I’ve got older.

Now my idea is something I’d like to take further. It’s a good opportunity to get supermarkets involved and it would benefit them as well as councils and the government and everyone who lives in the areas affected.

SatelLife Winner2019

Emily Gravestock, Head of Applications at the UK Space Agency, said:

The quality of entries this year was very high.  We were particularly pleased to see such a wide variety of satellite applications being used. These young people clearly recognised the diversity of areas that satellites impact on our day-to-day lives. 

Once again, we were impressed by the inspiration and knowledge of young people and I look forward to seeing how they develop their ideas in the future.

The SatelLife competition is split into 3 age groups: 11 – 14; 15 – 18; 19 – 22. The judging panel was made up of experts from the UK Space Agency, the European Space Agency, the Satellite Applications Catapult in Harwell and industry. The total prize fund is £50,000.

Gemma Wilson, Knowledge Exchange Manager at the Satellite Applications Catapult in Harwell, who was one of the judges, said:

The applications that have won were of excellent quality. The detailed work that has gone into them were, in some cases, as good as the companies that come and work with the Satellite Applications Catapult.

With major parts for one in four of the world’s telecommunications satellites already built in Britain, the government’s Industrial Strategy includes plans to work with the industry to grow the space sector and establish commercial space launch services from the UK for the first time.

There has been significant growth in the UK space sector in recent years which provides £14.8 billion in total income and employs nearly 42,000 people.

Overall individual winner

Trolley Tracker – Lowena Hull, 17, from Portsmouth

Prize: £7,500

Trolley Tracker is a tool that uses satellites to monitor the location of supermarket trolleys taken off site and allows them to be reclaimed. In 2015 1.5 million trolleys were taken from supermarkets and abandoned, with significant environmental impacts. This system would enable local authorities and supermarkets to better manage this problem and help solve a previously hidden issue.

Overall team winners

Satoilite – Judd Phillips, 15, Calvin Hulance, 14, Matthew Old, 14, and Joel Armstrong, 14, from Newquay, Cornwall

Prize £7,500

This is a service, using an app, which will allow people to find public toilets when travelling. Toilets can be rated by users and reserved by those who have an urgent need – such as those with hidden disabilities such as inflammatory bowel diseases.

Runners-up

Satellite detection system – Patrick Motley, 19, Blaise Umbagodo, 21, Alberto Tinta, 22, from the University of Derby

Prize: £5,000

This tool will allow improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and other unexploded bombs to be identified in warzones, and then use drones and precision satellite positioning to increase the safety of bomb disposal teams. This will also use machine learning to improve the safety of this project.

Using Satellite data to track plane crash survivors – Charlie Knott, 12, Evie Mansfield, 12 and Max Morgan, 11, from Helston, Cornwall

Prize £5,000

This project proposes the use of GPS trackers that could either be attached to lifejackets or deployed to passengers alongside oxygen masks in planes, in the event of an emergency. The tracker would be linked to the seat number of the passenger, showing where individuals are in the event of a crash and assisting rescue services.

Dro999 – Luca Franchi, 17, from Sydenham, London

Prize: £5,000

This supports emergency services by deploying emergency drones, both for medical needs and to support detection of crime. Drones can potentially reach crime scenes or casualties ahead of vehicles. By carrying cameras or basic medical equipment such as an epipen they can help ensure an efficient response.

Satellite Controlled Gun – Grace Morgan, 12, from Wimbledon, London

Prize: £4,000

This project will use geo-fencing technology to prevent guns being used in areas where they could do most harm, such as near schools or at events.
This tool would add a locator to the gun, which will prevent it firing when it’s detected to be in a particular area.

Race Spectator – Daniel Currie, 16, from Middlesbrough

Prize: £4,000

This app will allow supporters to track friends and family members competing in running races. In big city marathons there is already a tracker available to do this, but it is not currently available for smaller races or those off road. This app would change that.

Using satellites to prevent agricultural fires from polluting cities – Alex Hayman, 17, from Colyton in Devon

Prize: £4,000

In some countries, such as Thailand and India, city pollution is often generated by farmland being burnt. This proposal looks to use satellite information to inform farmers when they can burn their fields safely to ensure that the smoke, and therefore air pollution, is taken away from cities and has less of an impact on the public.

Ensuring sustainable finance using satellite data – Ewan Wright, 22, from Barnet, London

Prize: £4,000

It is important for investors, insurance companies and others to understand the risks posed by climate change. By using satellite data the impacts of climate change, and natural disasters can both be modelled in advance, and identified after an event has happened, allowing interested parties to understand the impacts and respond accordingly.

Satel-Access – Jack Johnson, 17, from Camberley in Surrey

Prize: £4,000

This is a portable wearable device which uses satellite data to provide information about your surroundings for those with accessibility needs. These would include people with buggies, those with disabilities or those with invisible disabilities such as the need for hearing loops and autism friendly areas.
The app would provide the location of features such as drop curbs, hearing loops and wide doorways to ensure that those with additional access requirements can enjoy the same freedoms as others.

The news comes as work on the route from London to Birmingham continues to gather pace, with activity on over 250 work sites.

Over 2,000 firms across the UK now have contracts with HS2, 70% of them SMEs and 98% of them British. At peak construction, over 30,000 people will be needed to design and build the railway. Since Royal Assent in 2017, there have been 324 apprenticeships within HS2 Ltd and the supply chain.

Activity across the first phase of the route is part of HS2’s enabling works. These are designed to prepare the way for viaducts, embankments, stations and ultimately the railway line itself. Works include land clearance, demolitions, tree planting, archaeology, utility diversions, and environmental mitigations, and much of this is centred around HS2’s new station sites in Birmingham, Old Oak Common and Euston.

Transport Secretary, Chris Grayling, said:

Delivering HS2 is a manifesto commitment. Today’s announcement shows HS2 is happening and is yet another example of how this government is making sure Britain works for everyone, delivering jobs and growth across the country.

And this is just the beginning. At its peak HS2 will directly provide 30,000 jobs not only on the route but across the UK and when ready will deliver the vital extra capacity – both new intercity capacity and in the space it releases for freight and intra-urban commuter services on existing lines – and connections needed to not only drive productivity growth but to deliver regeneration across the Midlands, North of England and beyond.

Mark Thurston, Chief Executive of HS2 Ltd, said:

HS2 is more than a railway, it’s also an opportunity to leave a lasting legacy for the country. The jobs and skills that we will create in every corner of the country will give us an industry to be proud of, and one that we can export to other countries.

As work gathers pace on the project, the jobs and opportunities for British businesses to get involved mean the benefits are here and now. Britain once led the world in railway engineering, and it can once again be at its forefront through HS2.

Matthew Fell, Chief UK Policy Director at CBI, said:

HS2 is a critical piece of national infrastructure, central to the country’s future prosperity. It offers a golden opportunity to boost economies across the North and Midlands, creating thousands of new jobs – both during construction and for years to come – by attracting investment from home and abroad.

The Curzon Street site in Birmingham

This site, which will be the home of the city’s new landmark station, is spearheading multi-million pound investment and regeneration proposals as a result of HS2’s arrival. The station site, and surrounding Eastside district, which offers the first glimpse of the city for millions of passengers arriving by train, is filled with cranes and plant operatives preparing the way for its new lease of life.

• Curzon Street site has transformed the area in preparation for Birmingham’s brand new HS2 station.
• The site spans 25,000 square metres, and 20,000 tonnes of concrete have been broken up, crushed and ready to be re-used on site.
• The crushed concrete has been levelled to provide a working platform for archaeological investigations and remediation. It will be left as such until the site is developed at a later date.
• Two buildings are being demolished at the site of the former Unite student accommodation which covers an area of 3,000 square metres. This will yield around 30,000 tonnes of material, with works being undertaken by the Birmingham-based demolitions firm, DSM.

Washwood Heath in Birmingham

Signs that Birmingham is getting HS2-ready continue 2.5 miles away in Washwood Heath, as another Midlands firm Total Reclaims Demolition makes way for HS2’s new train maintenance depot.

• The immense old site of the Alstom Rail Depot is 110,282 square metres – the size of 15 football pitches – and will yield 412,000 tonnes of material that will be recycled.
• With 50,000 hours of labour required to clear the site, the team is now 75% of the way through the work programme.
• Situated in the heart of one of Birmingham’s most deprived wards and constituencies, the site has been neglected for almost 15 years.
• The new depot will play a pivotal role in regenerating the area, and once complete over 500 jobs will provide opportunities for local people.
• Through HS2 Ltd’s supply chain, 12 local residents have already been supported into jobs through early works contractor LM-JV and security firm Servest.

Euston station

Across the capital, more than two thirds of demolitions have now been completed, with more than 1,000 people at work on the project.

• In Euston, the area surrounding the existing station is transforming at a pace, with 2 high rise towers which dominated the area in front of the station currently being demolished, ready for the extensive remodelling of the station.
• The 6 month demolition of the former Ibis hotel on Cardington Street has been completed, removing almost 9,000 tonnes of material with 95% set to be recycled or reused on site.
• The clearance of the nearby disused National Temperance Hospital buildings was delivered in 2 stages, with the second half, the Insull wing, now also complete.
• Both projects were delivered by HS2’s enabling works contractor, a Costain and Skanska joint venture (CSjv), working with subcontractors Keltbray.

Old Oak Common

Demolition of the former railway sheds at Old Oak Common is now well underway, alongside earth remediation and general clearance of the 1 kilometre long site, ready for the construction of HS2’s West London super-hub.

• The site of our future London Rail Logistics Hub at Willesden, West London, has now been completely cleared.
• The vast 150,000 metre squared rail hub is expected to process more than 6 million tonnes of excavated material from the London tunnels – taking the equivalent of 300,000 HGVs off the roads.
• At nearby Victoria Road, a 42,000 square metre site has been cleared, a space equivalent to the size of 6 football pitches, in order to begin the build of the Victoria Road Crossover Box, a huge underground structure designed to allow trains passing through the London tunnels to switch tracks.
• The government has already awarded £250 million to kick start further development of the area. The Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation is driving a regeneration programme on the back of the HS2 and Elizabeth line hub that will see 65,000 jobs and 25,000 homes on the 650ha development site.

The Attorney General, Rt Hon Geoffrey Cox QC MP, has appointed 2 new members to his Senior Treasury Counsel.

Alison Morgan QC and William Emlyn Jones have been appointed for 3 years. Alison Morgan was appointed Junior Treasury Counsel in July 2012, while William Emlyn Jones was appointed as Junior Treasury Counsel in July 2014.

The Treasury Counsel prosecutes some of the most serious criminal cases in the country.

The title ‘Treasury Counsel’ derives from when the Crown Counsel was instructed by the Treasury Solicitor at the Central Criminal Court. That procedure changed in 1908 and since then the Director of Public Prosecutions has instructed the Permanent Counsel there.

Treasury Counsel is appointed by the Attorney General and is divided into 2 groups: Senior Treasury Counsel and Junior Treasury Counsel.