Official linked to GSK bribes facing prison
pharmafile | February 20, 2015 | News story | Sales and Marketing | China, Deirdre Connelly, GSK, Jack Bailey, Novartis, bribes
A Chinese health official linked to the GSK bribery scandal has been sentenced to 19 years in prison.
Huang Fenping, formerly the deputy director for the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Health and Family Planning, was arrested in December 2013 for accepting bribes from pharmaceutical companies to promote their products.
Although the Shanghai Number One Intermediate People’s Court has not publically mentioned GSK, media reports have linked Huang to the British firm, which was fined £297 million last year for using bribes to ‘obtain improper commercial gains’.
Huang is said to have accepted over three million yuan in bribes and embezzled a further 1.4 million. He was found to have over 400 envelopes full of money in his house and several gold bars in the boot of his car.
GSK is alleged to have paid out around £320 million in bribes to doctors and hospitals. The executives linked to the scandal were given suspended sentences and expected to be dismissed.
The UK firm said previously that it has “published a statement of apology to the Chinese government and its people”.
New head of US pharmaceuticals
2014 was a rough year for GSK in general, with the company also seeing declining sales as its respiratory business has flagged in the US.
Earlier this week it replaced its head of US pharmaceuticals Deirdre Connelly with Jack Bailey, who was GSK’s senior vice president for policy, payers and vaccines.
Although Connelly’s replacement was not announced publically, in a statement GSK later said that she had “made the decision to retire after six years in the role” and praised her for “rebuilding trust with our customers”.
It added: “The US marketplace has changed significantly, with an exceedingly competitive payer landscape. As a result the entire sector is facing new challenges due to pressures on price and access.”
The company is also in the midst of a major asset-swap deal with Novartis, where it will buy the Swedish firm’s vaccines unit and sell its oncology business.
George Underwood
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