Aspen’s drug pricing faces EU, UK probes
Shareholders demand to know why the pharmaceuticals company has never revealed the €5.2m Italian fine
Aspen Pharmaceuticals’ failure to disclose its 2016 €5.2m Italian competition authorities fine for price gouging has backfired. The story made headlines in the UK and on social media. With speculation now mounting that British and European authorities will launch their own investigations into the price-gouging allegations, local shareholders are querying why the company has never issued a statement on the fine, which had been handed down in October 2016. Asief Mohamed of Aeon Investment Management said that when he asked Aspen management why it had not issued a Sens statement, he was told it was because it was an insignificant amount. "Even at that stage it was apparent the important issue was not the sum involved but the potential damage to Aspen’s reputation," Mohamed said. After a damning front-page report by The Times of London last week had been picked up by media outlets across the globe, Aspen finally issued a statement at the weekend saying that the contents of the report co...
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