In an unusual step, the pharmaceutical industry trade group in the United Kingdom has suspended Astellas for a year after discovering the drug maker disguised the true purpose of a meeting held for doctors, and then senior executives compounded the infraction by withholding crucial information when asked to explain the arrangements.
“There was an institutional failure,” an oversight panel for the Association of British Pharmaceutical Industries concluded in a harshly worded, 41-page report. “This was one of the worst cases (the panel) ever had to consider. … Very senior staff at Astellas Europe had lied and there was deception on a grand scale which was appalling and shocking.”
The suspension had its roots in a meeting that the Astellas division in the UK held in Milan in February 2014 for more than 100 physicians. The company billed the gathering as an educational event to obtain advice about prostate cancer when, in fact, it was more of a promotional stunt designed to woo doctors who were targeted to become high prescribers for Xtandi.
One of those physicians filed an anonymous complaint with the ABPI’s Prescription Medicines Code of Practice Authority, which oversees voluntary industry practice guidelines, to say that the meeting discussed uses for Xtandi that had not been approved by regulators. The physician also complained that Astellas “was not truthful” about why the doctors had been invited.
The complaint prompted the PMCPA to investigate. The panel later discovered the physicians believed they expected to attend a meeting of a legitimate advisory board, and they had also been paid, although the amounts were not specified in the report. In its initial findings, the PMCPA took Astellas to task, and the drug maker was contrite and vowed to improve its practices.
But then, another shoe dropped.
An anonymous Astellas employee later filed a complaint after attending a meeting where an Astellas executive discussed the incident in a “very dismissive manner,” according to the report. This prompted the PMCPA to explore anew, only to learn that some senior executives did not fully explain what occurred or provide all the pertinent information to the industry panel in the first place.
“The account given to the PMCPA was knowingly false and intentionally misleading,” the panel wrote. And its appeal board, which reviewed the matter, “was appalled and astonished that senior managers from Astellas Europe had made a concerted attempt to deceive it and the PMCPA. … It was a truly shocking state of affairs.”
“The panel was extremely concerned and disappointed by the conduct of Astellas Europe and Astellas UK. The integrity of self-regulation relied upon the provision of complete and accurate information by pharmaceutical companies,” the report continued. “… the failure to provide all the information and the misleading nature of what was submitted … meant that high standards had not been maintained. The circumstances brought discredit upon and reduced confidence in the pharmaceutical industry.”
The findings come amid ongoing scrutiny of drug makers and their promotional practices, an issue that has prompted some industry trade groups to establish voluntary guidelines. It is rare, though, for the ABPI to suspend a company from its membership. There were at least three other instances: Between 2006 and 2008, Roche, Merck and Abbott Laboratories were suspended briefly for infractions.
An Astellas spokeswoman responded to ABPI’s claims, saying, “Astellas takes its responsibilities to uphold the letter and spirit of the ABPI Code of Practice very seriously and accepts fully the decision of the ABPI Board of Management. Astellas is committed to achieving the required standards of compliance necessary for APL to have its membership to the ABPI reinstated.”
As a result of the episode, the PMCPA noted that the Astellas European unit, which is headquartered in London, had replaced several senior personnel after subsequently conducting its own review.
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nn nascondete la mano dopo aver tirato il sasso…… Firmatevi con i vostri nomi Codardi
..non sono codardo, ma tu sino ad ora per quale azienda hai lavorato?
Ho lavorato in Astellas per 15 anni Sempre con molta dignità e onestà Nn ho mai corrotto nessun medico e nessun collega mi ha mai confessato di averlo fatto Ho lavorato sempre serenamente Mi dissocio da queste infamie
E vanno sbandierando che enzalutamide (Xtandi) sarà’ il più venduto nei prossimi anni..a che prezzo? Sanzionare le aziende che praticano marketing irresponsabile come Astellas a spese della collettività e delle casse sanitarie nazionali.
…sono un ex dipendente di questa azienda..hanno da sempre sbandierato eticita’ e professionalità ma in realtà sono degli apprendisti stregoni con una classe dirigente europea ed italiana da codice penale!!
good
This seems to be an Astellas Europe aberration.
Astellas is usually a very well-behaved company in Japan, with high integrity and public respect.
Much more to this story…..
In summary, more than 99% of the physicians invited were indeed bribeable.
No surprise there!
Ugo is correct. Drug companies in the US do the same think but in reverse. If a physician writes enough scips he or she is deified as “Key Opinion Leader”. The next tier of high writers gets to sit on the “Advisory Board” and gets to go to meetings at resort locations at least three times a year because they set their own rules on how often to meat. Finally after enough bon vivance they figure they need to look legit so that the company can take a writeoff by developing an “educational” program which enables the next round of dinners at Four Seasons, etc, etc.
Don’t forget this is a Japanese company. Japanese Pharma and corruption go hand in hand.
Please, I heard many bribing stories about US and European companies too