Roche suspended from ABPI
pharmafile | July 15, 2008 | News story | Sales and Marketing |Â Â Â
Roche has been suspended from the ABPI for at least six months after being found guilty of bringing discredit on the UK pharma industry.
The company breached the UK industry's self-regulatory Code of Practice by linking use of its obesity drug Xenical in private diet clinics to payments to the company that ran them.
Chris Brinsmead, president of the ABPI, said: "The highest possible ethical standards are required by the pharmaceutical industry in all its activities. Breaches of the Code are viewed seriously and this is reflected by the suspension."
An investigation into Roche's activity between 2003-2005 was only launched this year, after a former company employee saw a February Financial Times article and lodged a complaint.
The piece alleged Roche had sold large quantities of its obesity drug Xenical to a firm running a number of private diet clinics. Moreover, it said Roche had agreed to provide £55,000 for that operator to purchase another clinic.
The PMCPA, which oversees the Code of Practice, ruled this supply of Xenical was inappropriate, and that the proposed payment, part of which had already been paid, was linked to use of the drug and so breached the Code.
The violation is an embarrassment for Roche, but the company has accepted its suspension and said it was disappointed to have fallen short of Code standards.
A company statement added: "This is why the company has already taken and continues to take steps to try to ensure that breaches do not happen again."
Roche said it has focused on three areas to improve compliance and safeguard against any further breach of the code.
Firstly, it has set up a new compliance department to ensure its policies and procedures meet Code requirements. The company has also carried out a full review of the way it operates, and corrected any weaknesses. Finally, it said all staff now undergo detailed training on the Code, so they fully understand its importance.
In recent years the ABPI has only suspended the membership of two other companies. The first was Abbott in 2006, for providing all expenses paid trips for doctors to see greyhound racing, visit Wimbledon and even go to a lap-dancing club.
The second was Merck Sharp & Dohme, also in 2006, when it was found to have offered a nurse audit disease management programme to GPs in a way that was clearly linked to a medicine.
