ChinaGate: Glaxo Issues A Mea Culpa And AstraZeneca Is Questioned

More bad news for GlaxoSmithKline. Over the weekend, the embattled drugmaker found itself scrambling on several fronts to contain the damage from a bribery scandal in China. Abbas Hussain, Glaxo president of international operations (pictured left), who met with Chinese authorities, issued a formal statement admitting that "certain senior execs" in the Chinese unit "acted outside of our processes and controls, which breaches Chinese law." And to appease the Chinese, he adds that certain chainges to be made to operations there will result in lower prices on medicines. At the same time, the drugmaker has reportedly met with investigators from the US Serious Fraud Office, which has the authority to investigate such allegations both at home and abroad. On Wednesday, Glaxo will release its quarterly earnings and ceo Andrew Witty is widely expected to address the mess, although a spokesperson declined to answer to say whether he will eventually meet with Chinese authorities himself. Meanwhile, the drugmaker reportedly sacked dozens of sales reps in China dating back to early last year in response to the bribery scandal, which the drugmaker initially denied but was publicized thanks to an internal whistleblower. And now, the proverbial other shoe is falling. An AstraZeneca (AZN) spokesperson confirms to us that Chinese authorities have visited its offices in Shanghai and questioned at least one employee, a sales rep, who has not yet been identified, and several other drugmakers, inc...
Source: Pharmalot - Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Source Type: blogs