The Chinese Bribery Scandal Is Starting To Hurt Big Pharma

Ever since the bribery scandal in China erupted four months ago, there has been growing acceptance among multi-national drugmakers that the Chinese government probes into marketing practices were going to hurt business. But how bad is it? None of the largest drugmakers are offering specifics, but they did provide some predictably dour assessments to one Wall Street analyst. Of nine multinational drugmakers queried, seven acknowledged the bribery scandal has been a drag on operations in China. One large drugmaker, for instance, noted that prescribers are reluctant to grant access to sales reps. Which ones are hurting? Of course, there is GlaxoSmithKline, which was the initial focus of the Chinese government probe (back stories here and here). The others registering pain are Merck (MRK), Eli Lilly (LLY), Roche, Sanofi (SNY), AstraZeneca (AZN) and Novartis (NVS), according to an investor note by Tim Anderson at Sanford Bernstein. Pfizer (PFE) and Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) declined to respond, although these drugmakers are likely to be taking a hit, as well. The Chinese government, you may recall, is believed by some to use the probes as an opportunity to extract lower prices from global drugmakers and, perhaps, bolster its own domestic pharmaceutical industry. The National Development and Reform Commission, for instance, has been examining pricing by 60 drugmakers, including both local and multi-national companies. In the scheme of things, China does not yet represent a huge pi...
Source: Pharmalot - Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Source Type: blogs