GSK is fined £38m for delaying generic paroxetine

GlaxoSmithKline, the United Kingdom’s biggest drug maker, has been fined more than £37.6m (€48m; $55m) for striking deals between 2001 and 2004 to stifle competition from generic drug manufacturers with its blockbuster antidepressant paroxetine.

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority has fined GSK for entering “pay for delay” deals with smaller manufacturers to keep generic forms of paroxetine off the market.

In the UK 4.2 million prescriptions were issued in 2000 for Seroxat, GSK’s branded version of paroxetine, and in 2001 Seroxat was one of GSK’s best selling drugs, with sales exceeding £90m. That year Generics (UK) and …