Novartis milestones be proud ! Management take a bow !

Discussion in 'Novartis' started by Anonymous, Jun 2, 2011 at 8:42 AM.

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  1. Novartis, slammed by Korean scandal, tweaks its ethics, compliance policies
    by Eric Sagonowsky |
    May 15, 2017 10:53am

    A Novartis exec said the company is working to bolster its ethics and compliance policies after a corruption scandal in Korea. (Valentin Janiaut)

    Rocked by a corruption scandal in Korea and facing a kickbacks probe in Greece, Novartis says it's strengthening and simplifying its global ethics and compliance approach.

    The Swiss drug giant is aiming to shift from policing to coaching, with a compliance unit focused on helping local units make the right decisions, Novartis chief compliance and ethics officer Shannon Klinger told The Wall Street Journal. Novartis also wants to simplify its policies so they are easy to understand, she said.

    Last month, Korean authorities handed out a $50 million fine and suspended coverage on several Novartis meds in relation to a bribery probe in the country. Novartis employees conducted a kickbacks scheme through medical journal-sponsored meetings, with the total spent on bribes estimated to be $2.3 million, according to officials.

    RELATED: Novartis to pay $50M, lose some drug coverage in Korean bribery probe

    Reflecting on the episode, Klinger told the WSJ that Novartis’ work in the country has been “overshadowed by the actions of a few associates.”

    Separately, Novartis faces allegations of bribery in Greece. Speaking on a radio program in the country last month, Greek Justice Minister Stavros Kontonis said it seems that “thousands” of government officials and doctors in the country have been “directly bribed from Switzerland.”

    A Novartis spokesperson responded that Greek authorities have only contacted the company through two visits from a prosecutor in December and January, and that the drugmaker hasn't received "any form of indictment or subpoena."

    RELATED: Greek official: 'Thousands' of people implicated in Novartis bribery probe

    In Korea, Novartis’ controversy began in February 2016, when prosecutors raided a local office to gather documents and account books. After looking at the evidence, the country’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety handed out some relatively minor punishments in February of this year. At the time, one source told The Investor that the Ministry of Health and Wellness was weighing “tougher” measures.

    Sure enough, the MHW handed out a fine worth nearly $50 million in April. A Novartis spokesperson pointed out that the decision was made on a preliminary basis; a final decision is expected by the end of May.

    Last year, Novartis agreed to a $25 million settlement with U.S. authorities to put to rest a bribery investigation in China.
     

  2. Novartis is sending 500 jobs to the scrap heap while adding 350 ‘high-tech’ positions for growth

    by john carroll — on May 18, 2017 01:19 PM EDT

    Novartis is taking out the ax again in its ongoing global reorganization, cutting into its R&D group while making room for hundreds of new hires. Following an overhaul that was focused on the US and Asia last year, it’s the Basel campus that’s getting a makeover now.

    Up to 500 jobs in Novartis’ drug development, “traditional” manufacturing and coordination group are being scrapped, with the staffers either being laid off, retiring early or moving to other locations. Moving into the company will be 350 new employees for “high-tech” positions in Switzerland, also for drug development as well as “innovative” biologics manufacturing.

    You can file this latest round of cuts and growth to a decision the company made last year to improve operations and increase efficiency, a regular theme at the Swiss multinational. This time around R&D has come under intense focus.

    Last summer the urge to streamline operations led Novartis to scrap a 400-person cell and gene therapy unit, integrating it back into its overall development operations and cutting 120 positions. Then in the fall the company made several broad moves, adding new research operations based in Cambridge, MA as well as Basel while shuttering two units in China and Switzerland and relocating another from Singapore to the Bay Area.
     
  3. Novartis to cut 200-plus jobs in E. Hanover
    By Eric Strauss, May 23, 2017 at 2:11 PM


    Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. is continuing its operational changes, meaning more than 200 New Jersey workers are likely to lose their jobs, the company confirmed Tuesday.

    Novartis filed a federal WARN notice with the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development stating that it would be restructuring the geographic footprint of its global development operations department, ceasing operations of two lines, data management and statistical programming.

    As a result, 204 positions at the company’s East Hanover headquarters are scheduled to be eliminated by July 28.

    “Last year, Novartis created the global drug development function to strengthen our ability to deliver breakthrough medicines for patients,” the company told NJBIZ in an emailed statement. “As part of this integration, we will be consolidating our data operations organization to our global development site in Hyderabad, India, which allows us to improve efficiencies through increased harmonization and standardization.

    “Regrettably, as a result, approximately 250 positions in the United States (204 of which are in New Jersey) are expected to be impacted by this realignment.”

    “The United States continues to play a significantly large role in our business, and we remain committed to our research, facilities and headquarters within New Jersey and several other locations in the United States,” the company said.

    Novartis had eliminated nearly 300 jobs in East Hanover in a series of moves tied to the operational restructuring in recent years.
     
  4. New Fines

    New Fines Guest

    Korea issues third set of punishments in Novartis bribery case
    by Eric Sagonowsky
    Jun 8, 2017 11:18am

    Antitrust authorities in Korea issued a new fine against Novartis. (Courtesy of Valentin Janiaut)

    South Korean authorities aren’t letting Novartis off the hook easily in an ongoing bribery controversy. After a separate agency fined the drugmaker nearly $50 million over kickback payments in April, antitrust authorities in the country have just issued a new fine and complaint against the Swiss drug giant.

    South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission fined Novartis 500 million won ($445,000) and filed a new complaint over payments the company offered doctors between March 2011 and August 2016, according to the Korea Times.

    The developments come shortly after the country’s Ministry of Health & Welfare fined Novartis 55 billion Korean won—approximately $50 million—and suspended reimbursement of Exelon and Zometa for three months, alleging the company’s employees provided approximately $2.3 million in unlawful kickbacks.

    Even before that finding, the country’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety issued a small fine and a three-month suspension on three medications earlier this year.

    A Novartis spokesperson said the company acknowledges the new decision, adding that it’s based on a prosecutor’s request from an 2016 investigation.

    Novartis, in its own internal probe, “found that some overseas congress trips by healthcare professionals were funded in a way that did not fully comply with industry self-regulation standards,” according to a company statement.

    In response, the drugmaker “has taken decisive actions to address this issue in Korea, including stopping the funding of healthcare professionals from Korea to attend overseas academic conferences and meetings,” according to a company statement.

    The scandal in Korea has been a thorn in Novartis’ side for some time after prosecutors raided a company office there early last year. It’s facing a parallel controversy in Greece, where a justice official recently said “thousands” of doctors and government employees have been “directly bribed from Switzerland.” No charges have been filed in that case.

    So with problems popping up in multiple countries, Novartis chief compliance and ethics officer Shannon Klinger recently said the company is strengthening and simplifying its global ethics and compliance approach.:D
     
  5. anonymous

    anonymous Guest

    As Novartis A G (NVS) Shares Rose, Private Harbour Investment Management & Counsel Has Lowered Its Position

    First Republic Investment Management Has Lowered Novartis A G (NVS) Holding by $10.65 Million

     
  6. US Probe

    US Probe Guest

    US Reps. Probe Bayer, Teva, Novartis On MS Drug Pricing
    By Dani Kass

    New York (August 18, 2017, 3:52 PM EDT) -- U.S. Reps. Elijah E. Cummings and Peter Welch, Democrats from Maryland and Vermont, respectively, on Thursday announced an investigation into price hikes for multiple sclerosis drugs made by companies including Bayer, Novartis, Sanofi, Teva and Roche.

    The lawmakers gave the drug companies until Aug. 31 to hand over information on their profits, pricing strategies, patient assistance programs and distribution systems to see if the increases are justified. They’re alleging that the drugmakers have been engaging in so-called shadow pricing, where when one company raises its prices,.
     
  7. anonymous

    anonymous Guest

  8. Great if Gates , Bezos, Buffet, Bloomeberg, Saudi Prince etc get the disease o_O

    Joseph Jimenez, the chief executive of Novartis, is celebrating a triumph. The Food and Drug Administration approved Kymriah, a new treatment for kids with leukemia. But he’s also taking heat from all sides over his decision to charge $475,000 for the treatment, and, in a major first, to negotiate deals that charge only patients who go into remission. For Wall Street, the sum is 36% less than investors expected, and could stunt a whole field. For patients, it is still far too expensive.
     
  9. anonymous

    anonymous Guest

  10. When Novartis announced an eye-popping $475,000 price for its new gene-therapy cancer treatment last month, the company also touted a money-back guarantee: if a patient fails to respond in the first month, there will be no charge. The deal generated praise, but also questions about the extent to which payers and patients will benefit. Several Democratic lawmakers are now seeking answers.

    Unfortunately, details have not been released, which raises some key issues. For instance, it remains unclear how patient responses to the drug — which is called Kymriah and was approved to treat children with an aggressive form of leukemia
     
  11. anonymous

    anonymous Guest

    DEFINE: "fails to respond"
     
  12. SUFFERN - The vacant 162-acre campus previously owned by Novartis was sold for $18 million to a buyer that quickly resold the site to a Manhattan-based development firm for $30 million. :confused:
     
  13. anonymous

    anonymous Guest

    You win some, you lose some.
     
  14. Italy's €183M Pharma Antitrust Case Gets Boost From EU AG
    By Melissa Lipman

    New York (September 21, 2017, 5:43 PM EDT) -- Two drugs marketed to treat wildly different conditions may still be competitors under European Union antitrust law if doctors use one off-label for the other ailment, an adviser to the bloc's highest court suggested Thursday in an opinion supporting a €183 million fine against Roche and Novartis.

    F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. and Novartis AG are trying to toss the penalties, worth about $218 million at current exchange rates, that Italy's antitrust enforcer issued in 2014 over a licensing dea
     
  15. anonymous

    anonymous Guest

    Some words of wisdom If you want to blow the whistle you MUST do the following:

    Keep every single communication documentation and print out all emails, every day, before the company can sabatoge your computer. Every eval, every field ride with mgt., every meeting itinerary, every marketing piece, every single thing the company ever hands you, KEEP, You will never know what's valuable once the process starts.

    Call notes from you are crucial, but call notes from your peers are priceless. Keep every scrap of off label selling documentation, the more the better.

    Write down every illegal act that is requested of you in person, and that you have witnessed OR HEARD ABOUT, write it down Immediately, time, place, reason for meeting, etc...

    When you have enough evidence, you call an attorney who specializes in the False Claims Act.
    TAF.ORG isnt a bad place to start.

    Never tell a soul! Not anyone! Not ever!! Especially co-workers or mgt. or you will soon get a call from the BPO Once the process starts everything will be sealed but you can assume the company has a pretty good clue. (as was the case for me).

    Finally, if you are being targeted and you know it, get another job ASAP, that way Nvs cannot fire you first. As it would look like you are just a disgruntled employee trying to get revenge on the company if they can fire you first before you leave on your own.


    Good Luck
     
  16. Novartis to shut U.S. generics plant, cut 450 jobs

    Reuters Staff

    ZURICH (Reuters) - Swiss drugmaker Novartis is to cut 450 jobs in the United States over the next two years as it gradually shuts a generics manufacturing plant in Colorado and discontinues some products in the face of intense price pressures.
     
  17. Novartis & others under CCI scanner over price-fixing
    By DIVYA RAJAGOPAL
    ET Bureau
    Updated: Dec 14, 2017, 09.13 AM IST

    MUMBAI:Competition Commission of India (CCIBSE 0.00 %) has initiated an investigation against drug makers NovartisBSE -0.60 %, Emcure Pharma AbbottBSE -1.57 %, and USV over alleged price-fixing of the blockbuster anti-diabetic drug Vildagliptin, people aware of the development said.

    The fair play regulator has sent them notices seeking trade details of the drug, in an attempt to find out if the companies colluded with each other to keep its price at certain levels, they said. CCI is.also looking at the involvement of senior executives of the companies, sources said.

    Swiss drug maker Novartis confirmed it has received a notice from CCI and that it has responded to it. “Given that the matter is sub-judice, you will appreciate that we are unable to comment any further,” a company spokesperson said in an email response to ET.

    Read more at:
    //economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/62062165.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst