In a landmark judgment delivered on 15 January 2002, the Competition Commission Appeal Tribunal ("the Tribunal") upheld a decision by the Director General of Fair Trading (DGFT) that Napp Pharmaceutical Holdings Ltd, a Cambridge-based company, had abused its dominant position, in breach of Chapter II of the Competition Act 1998.
The case is important as it is the first appeal made under the Act against a DGFT infringement and fining decision. In March 2001, the DGFT found that Napp had abused its dominant position in the UK market for the supply of sustained release morphine tablets and capsules (MST), an analgesic commonly used in the treatment of cancer-related pain, and imposed a penalty of £3.21m. Napp’s abusive conduct was twofold: charging excessive prices to customers in the community segment of the market whilst supplying hospitals at discount levels designed to drive out competitors. The DGFT directed Napp to reduce the price of MST tablets in the community and limit the
