Ahngook head arrested over illegal tests
Pharmaceutical company used researchers’ blood in clinical tests
An executive of Ahngook Pharmaceutical has been arrested for violating the Pharmacy Law after the firm was found to be conducting illegal clinical trials for its new drug on company employees, prosecutors said Wednesday.
According to the Seoul Western District Prosecutors’ Office, and officials, company President Auh Jin, 55, has been detained and is currently being questioned over the alleged violation.
The arrest came after local broadcaster JTBC reported the allegations in July, based on an investigation by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.
According to the ministry, company researchers were allegedly administered with several medicines, including antihypertensive and anticoagulant agents, as the company tested incrementally modified drugs.
Such medications require prescriptions, should be administered according to a doctor’s instructions and the patients should be monitored due to the high risks of side effects including internal bleeding. However, there were no such procedures, and the researchers allegedly neither signed consent forms nor received regular checkups.
The researchers’ blood was collected by a woman without a medical license, and there were no emergency medical workers who should have been present during clinical testing, according to the ministry.
The company falsely reported to the ministry that it had used beagles’ blood for the clinical tests but an analysis by the National Forensic Service following the ministry’s request showed it was human blood.
Ahngook insisted the tests were conducted with the researchers’ consent, and the company did not force them to take part.
The drug safety ministry began to investigate the company in July 2017 and the case was sent to the prosecution. But prosecutors did not properly look into it until recently.
In a separate case, Auh was indicted without physical detention along with two other company executives in late July on charges of offering bribes of 9 billion won ($7.44 million) to 85 doctors in return for them prescribing medicines made by the pharmaceutical company.
The doctors were also indicted for receiving kickbacks, with one of them being arrested.