South Korea imposes temporary sales ban on Novartis

The South Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has fined pharmaceutical giant Novartis 200 million won (CHF176,479) and imposed a three-month ban on the sales of certain drugs as punishment for offering illegal rebates and kickbacks to doctors. “Novartis acknowledges and accepts the decision of the Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety,” a company spokesperson told swissinfo.ch on Thursday. Employees of the Basel-based pharmaceutical company are accused of paying doctors rebates and kickbacks amounting to 2.6 billion won (CHF2.3 million) between 2011 and 2016 in return for recommending the company’s products. Six senior employees are under investigation and face criminal trial. In addition, South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission is investigating whether Novartis’ sponsorships of doctors’ travel to conferences constitute a violation of fair trade laws. The sales ban concerns 12 variations of three types of drugs and will last from March 17 to June 16. Novartis ...

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