China Halts Imports Of Pfizer Medication Diflucan; China Increasing Scrutiny of Pharmaceutical Industry

January 3, 2014 Leave a comment

China Halts Imports Of Pfizer Medication Diflucan

China Increasing Scrutiny of Pharmaceutical Industry

LAURIE BURKITT

Dec. 31, 2013 7:56 a.m. ET

BEIJING—China’s drug watchdog halted imports of a medication from drug giant PfizerInc., PFE -0.20% citing a late application for the drug—the latest incident marking increased Chinese scrutiny of the pharmaceutical industry.The State Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday it recently inspected a Pfizer factory in France and found that the U.S. drug giant hadn’t submitted supplementary applications for the antifungal drug fluconazole, also called Diflucan.

Pfizer said in a statement on its Chinese-language website that the company is taking steps to resolve the problem and is cooperating with China’s FDA to ensure compliance with Chinese law. The statement said the issue isn’t related to the quality or safety of its products. Representatives in China didn’t respond to a request for further comment late Tuesday.

The drug suspension comes as the pharmaceutical industry is under a spotlight in China, where authorities are cracking down on everything from pricing to corruption. In July Chinese authorities accused U.K. drug company GlaxoSmithKline GSK.LN 0.00% PLC of bribing doctors, hospitals and government officials in an effort to sell more drugs at higher prices. Glaxo has said it appears some of its managers in China might have broken the law, and says it is cooperating with the probe.

China’s leaders have in recent months announced efforts to boost the quality and safety of food and drugs sold in the country.

It is unclear what kind of impact China’s suspension will have on Pfizer’s operations in the country. Pfizer sold $259 million worth of Diflucan globally in 2012, according to the company.

Filed under Macro Trends

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