AstraZeneca staff questioned in China
pharmafile | July 23, 2013 | News story | Medical Communications, Sales and Marketing | AstraZeneca, China, GSK, bribery
AstraZeneca says it has no details on the reasons why three of its employees in China have been questioned by police in Shanghai – but does not believe it is related to wider investigations in the country.
This new probe by the Shanghai Public Security Bureau’s Huangpu Branch come against a backdrop of claims and allegations of criminal activity by pharma firms in China.
GlaxoSmithKline has already admitted that some of its executives have broken the law and apologised, saying it will co-operate with a bribery investigation.
In a statement to Pharmafile – perhaps mindful of its own corporate reputation being potentially tarnished by such revelations – AstraZeneca said of its own brush with the Chinese authorities: “We have no reason to believe it is related to other investigations.”
The company says the police on 19 July took one of its sales representatives for questioning ‘regarding a local police matter’.
Following this, today the police “asked to speak with two line managers with whom this representative has worked, one of whom is continuing to assist the Bureau with their enquiries”.
The company concluded: “The Public Security Bureau is describing this as an individual case, AstraZeneca has no further information on the detail of the investigation at this time.”
AstraZeneca will certainly hope not to be associated with the other case, which is spiralling into a situation which is at the least highly embarrassing for GSK.
The manufacturer has been accused of ‘economic crimes’ that include spending 3 billion Yuan (£323 million) on laundering money through 700 travel agencies in order to bribe doctors, hospitals and trade groups.
The Public Security Ministry said GSK’s executives “violated China’s laws and damaged markets by engaging in bribery to raise drug prices, expand sales and reap inappropriate profits”.
The police’s recent activities in China are interpreted by some observers as a clear signal that the country is attempting to lower its healthcare bill by stamping out such behaviour.
China’s economic slowdown this year, which has seen it slip from unalloyed fiscal powerhouse to a country unable to buck global austerity, could be behind the move to cut costs.
Adam Hill
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