The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) has learned that five Chinese pharmaceutical companies have been conspiring to fix the price of allopurinol. 

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The said drug is an important medicine in China. It is used to treat an excess amount of uric acid (hyperuricemia) which can lead to kidney stones and gout. 

There are only three domestic manufacturers of allopurinol in China since 2014: Chongqing Qingyang, Jiangsu Shimaotianjie, and Shanghai Xinyi. An investigation revealed that the three had monopoly agreements with only two distributors, Chongqing Datong and Shangqiu Huajie 

"Five companies have been fined for colluding to manipulate pricing and for dividing the market of a common tablet," Lu Yanchun, deputy inspector of the Price Supervision and Anti-Monopoly Bureau of NDRC, told China Daily.

The five defendants were fined a total of ¥4 million ($608,000). Yanchun said the price fixing endangered consumer welfare and market competition in the country. 

The price of allopurinol significantly increased fourfold between 2014 and 2015 because the three producers only sold the drug in specified areas. 

"Even though the fine is not the largest issued since the NDRC began bringing actions against pricing collusion, it is significant," Lu said.

NDRC fined two companies back in 2011 with ¥7 million ($1.07 million) for the same crime. Since 2013, more than 50 domestic and foreign-owned drug manufacturers have been investigation under the Antitrust Law. 

Tagsprice fixing in China, allopurinol tablets, monopoly, drug monopoly, National Development and Reform Commission