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Novartis wraps up China bribery probe with $25M payment to SEC
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  • Publication:2016/3/25

Novartis agreed to fork over $25 million to settle a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into bribery allegations in China. It's the latest example of corruption claims made against the Swiss drugmaker's operations in Asia.

According to the SEC, Novartis ($NVS) offered Chinese doctors lavish entertainments--including a junket to Chicago and Niagara Falls--and other inducements to boost prescriptions of its drugs in the country.

The allegations mirror those against a variety of other drugmakers that have settled similar investigations by the U.S. government and foreign agencies. The biggest settlement--and most far-reaching example of bribery in China--was the $489 million fine levied against GlaxoSmithKline ($GSK) in 2014, which capped off an investigation into hundreds of millions in inducements for doctors and other healthcare officials, many of them booked as travel and meeting expenses.