Novartis Diovan Marketing May Have Violated Japanese Law

The other shoe is getting closer to dropping in the Diovan scandal engulfing Novartis in Japan. A government panel has released a much-anticipated report indicating the drugmaker may have violated Japanese law by using faulty data to promote its widely used heart drug, an offense that could lead to fines and jail time. The report may also augur concerns about the veracity of other research conducted at Japanese universities that have relations with drugmakers. The report from the Japanese health ministry follows disclosures earlier this year by Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine and Jikei University, which ran two of five studies that touted Diovan as capable of reducing heart attacks and strokes, that the data was manipulated. Meanwhile, The Lancet and the European Heart Journal issued retractions. The panel noted that marketing literature - brochures for physicians and handouts for lectures - often featured research papers by the universities. “The competition for hypertension drugs must have been fierce when Diovan was approved and any drugmaker would have thought additional evidence to differentiate its products could help increase sales,” the report states. “While the motive by Novartis is obvious, the doctors’ purpose for the study is unclear. The government should conduct an on-site inspection and take stern action" (here is the report, although it is in Japanese). Indeed, Japanese authorities are expected to raid Novartis offices in search of further ev...
Source: Pharmalot - Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Source Type: blogs