Roche rejoins ABPI after six-month suspension
pharmafile | February 23, 2009 | News story | Sales and Marketing |Â Â Code of Practice, RocheÂ
Roche has been allowed to rejoin the ranks of the ABPI, after its six-month suspension for bringing discredit on the pharma industry.
The company was suspended from ABPI membership in July last year after it was found to have made very serious breaches of the UK industry’s Code of Practice. These centred on its weight loss treatment Xenical, and included employees giving thousands of pounds to private diet clinics to help them increase the prescribing and selling of the drug.
Roche has now seen its membership reinstated six months on, after an internal audit into its practices and its promise to comply in future. The ABPI will also see the results of a further internal audit of the company later this year, to ensure it is performing to expectations.
Roche’s suspension followed an investigation into its activities between 2003-5, which was sparked by a former employee who responded to an article in the Financial Times.
The inquiry found Roche had acted irresponsibly in selling large quantities of Xenical to a firm running a number of private diet clinics. The ABPI board ruled that patient safety may have been compromised because of the actions. Moreover, it found Roche had agreed to provide £55,000 for that operator to set up another clinic.
The PMCPA, which oversees the Code of Practice, found Roche in breach, ruling that the supply was inappropriate and that the payment was linked to use of the drug.
After being found in breach of the Code, Roche took steps to ensure they would not reoccur. It set up a new compliance department to ensure its policies and procedures met Code requirements, and promised to train all staff on the Code so they might fully understand its importance.
The follow-up audit of the company will be conducted in November 2009, to ensure this progress was being maintained.
In a company statement Roche said it was pleased the ABPI suspension has been lifted, and was now “considering how best to re-engage with current ABPI activities”.
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