Roche Holdings AG, maker of the Tamiflu antiviral treatment, is under investigation in South Korea for its alleged involvement in illegal sales of the drug as the number of swine flu cases jumped.
The Korea Food and Drug Administration is analyzing computer files and other documents it confiscated from Roche’s Seoul office on Nov. 4, Ahn Man Ho, a spokesman at the agency, said by telephone from Seoul today. Martina Rupp, a Roche spokeswoman in Basel, Switzerland, confirmed the office visit by Korean FDA officials.
The raid is part of an FDA probe into large Tamiflu purchases by hospitals and companies that found the Korean units of HSBC Holdings Plc and Novartis AG stocked up on the drug, Ahn said. Concern over a surge in the number of swine flu, or H1N1, cases prompted South Korea’s government this week to raise its national alert to the highest “red” level and implement measures such as increasing resources to hospitals.
Basel-based Roche is suspected of helping multinational companies including HSBC and Novartis buy large stocks of Tamiflu in South Korea, Ahn said.
South Korean laws prohibit large-scale drug purchases by non-medical professionals, a crime punishable by up to five years in prison, the FDA said on Nov. 4. The FDA, which started the Tamiflu probe in May, found HSBC and Novartis bought sufficient supplies of the antiviral for almost 6,000 people, the agency said at the time.
The FDA has asked the Korean prosecutors office to start a criminal probe into the local units of HSBC and Novartis over the purchases, Ahn said.
Prescription Drug
“Anyone who needs the drug must have a prescription,” Roche’s Rupp said. “Roche is fully collaborating with the authorities.”
South Korea also plans to have sufficient supplies of Tamiflu and other antiviral medicines to treat 11 million people, or 20 percent of its population, by the end of this year, the health ministry said on Nov. 3. Roche has delivered one order of Tamiflu to the Korean government and an additional order will be fulfilled soon, Rupp said today.
HSBC Bank signed a contract with the Korea Medical Institute on Dec. 31, 2007, to get legal Tamiflu prescriptions, which it used to buy the drug from hospitals and drugstores, Jina Hwang, a spokeswoman at HSBC, said by e-mail today. The bank has “never heard” from hospitals and drugstores that the purchase procedure was illegal, she said.
HSBC said on Sept. 25 it had secured enough Tamiflu for its South Korean employees under guidelines set by the London-based headquarters for an emergency.
Stacy Ha, a spokeswoman at Novartis Korea, declined to comment.
The Korea Food and Drug Administration is analyzing computer files and other documents it confiscated from Roche’s Seoul office on Nov. 4, Ahn Man Ho, a spokesman at the agency, said by telephone from Seoul today. Martina Rupp, a Roche spokeswoman in Basel, Switzerland, confirmed the office visit by Korean FDA officials.
The raid is part of an FDA probe into large Tamiflu purchases by hospitals and companies that found the Korean units of HSBC Holdings Plc and Novartis AG stocked up on the drug, Ahn said. Concern over a surge in the number of swine flu, or H1N1, cases prompted South Korea’s government this week to raise its national alert to the highest “red” level and implement measures such as increasing resources to hospitals.
Basel-based Roche is suspected of helping multinational companies including HSBC and Novartis buy large stocks of Tamiflu in South Korea, Ahn said.
South Korean laws prohibit large-scale drug purchases by non-medical professionals, a crime punishable by up to five years in prison, the FDA said on Nov. 4. The FDA, which started the Tamiflu probe in May, found HSBC and Novartis bought sufficient supplies of the antiviral for almost 6,000 people, the agency said at the time.
The FDA has asked the Korean prosecutors office to start a criminal probe into the local units of HSBC and Novartis over the purchases, Ahn said.
Prescription Drug
“Anyone who needs the drug must have a prescription,” Roche’s Rupp said. “Roche is fully collaborating with the authorities.”
South Korea also plans to have sufficient supplies of Tamiflu and other antiviral medicines to treat 11 million people, or 20 percent of its population, by the end of this year, the health ministry said on Nov. 3. Roche has delivered one order of Tamiflu to the Korean government and an additional order will be fulfilled soon, Rupp said today.
HSBC Bank signed a contract with the Korea Medical Institute on Dec. 31, 2007, to get legal Tamiflu prescriptions, which it used to buy the drug from hospitals and drugstores, Jina Hwang, a spokeswoman at HSBC, said by e-mail today. The bank has “never heard” from hospitals and drugstores that the purchase procedure was illegal, she said.
HSBC said on Sept. 25 it had secured enough Tamiflu for its South Korean employees under guidelines set by the London-based headquarters for an emergency.
Stacy Ha, a spokeswoman at Novartis Korea, declined to comment.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.