Two pharmaceutical companies have been accused of breaking competition law, resulting in the price of a drug nearly doubling in the UK.

Actavis UK, which is now owned by India's Intas Pharmaceuticals, and Canadian company Concordia, could face hefty fines following claims from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) that they were responsible for a huge jump in the price of hydrocortisone tablets in the UK between 2013 and 2016.

The CMA alleges that Actavis incentivised Concordia not to enter the market with its own generic, competing version of the hydrocortisone tablets during this time.

As a result, Actavis remained the sole supplier of the tablets in the UK throughout most of this period, during which the price per pack rose from £49 to £88.

As the drug had lost its patent, it was no longer subject to price regulation by the NHS. This is because, in theory, it should have opened the door for other companies to sell competing copycat versions onto the market.

Concordia was the first potential competitor to Actavis UK to launch hydrocortisone tablets.

However, the CMA claims that Actavis UK abused its dominant position by inducing Concordia to delay its independent entry into the market, which kept prices high and deprived the NHS of the significant price falls that would have been expected.