Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
French Drugmaker Sanofit Pays $25 Million To Settle SEC Bribery Charges
The Wall Street Journal: Sanofi Pays $25 Million To Settle Bribery Charges
French pharmaceutical company Sanofi agreed to pay $25.2 million to resolve Securities and Exchange Commission allegations that its subsidiaries made bribery payments to win business. The alleged schemes spanned multiple countries and involved bribes to government procurement officials and health-care providers to receive tenders and increase prescriptions of the company’s products, the SEC said. The alleged payments violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which bars bribes of foreign officials for business purposes, the SEC said. (Rubenfield, 9/4)
Stat: Sanofi Pays $25 Million To Settle Charges Of Bribery In The Mideast
The settlement is the first to involve a major drug maker since the Trump administration took office early last year. Before that, several large pharmaceutical companies reached deals for violating the act, including Teva Pharmaceutical (TEVA), GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), AstraZeneca (AZN), Novartis, (NVS) and Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY). The largest settlement involved Teva, which in late 2016 paid $520 million to settle charges. Despite a lack of settlements since then, there has been anticipation the pharmaceutical industry would continue to merit attention from the SEC, given that drug makers operate globally and these companies often complain about the difficulties of doing business in countries with cash-strapped governments. In announcing the Sanofi settlement, the SEC, in fact, warned the industry about its practices. (Silverman, 9/4)
