Tianjin 4 pharmaceutical companies fined 362 million for colluding to artificially raise drug prices.

The Tianjin Market Regulatory Commission has imposed administrative penalties on four pharmaceutical companies including Tianjin Jingya Pharmaceutical, Zhejiang Xianju Pharmaceutical, Jiangsu Lianhuan Pharmaceutical, and Xi'an Guokang Ruijin Pharmaceutical for reaching and implementing a price monopoly agreement, with a total fine of 362 million yuan. Since November 2021, individual Guo and the four companies discussed raising the price of dexamethasone sodium phosphate raw materials, reaching a verbal agreement to stop price competition and jointly raise prices. From February 2022 to March 2024, the four companies increased the sales price of dexamethasone sodium phosphate raw materials from 8,000 yuan per kilogram to 13,000 yuan per kilogram. The State Administration for Market Regulation will continue to strengthen anti-monopoly enforcement in the pharmaceutical sector to maintain a fair market competition order in the field of medicine.