Vaccine scandal hits China drug sector

A Chinese vaccine scandal, which emerged earlier in July, has prompted angry reactions from citizens fed up with safety scares and is sending ripples across the drug market and threatening Chinese ambitions to play a larger role in the global pharmaceutical arena.

Chinese police have launched an investigation into Changsheng Biotechnology, its chairwoman and four executives over suspected criminal behaviour, the official Xinhua news agency said on Monday.

Changsheng has been found to have falsified production documents related to a rabies vaccine that is given routinely to Chinese babies as young as three months, underscoring the challenge the drug market faces cleaning up its image as it aims to promote its vaccines globally.

According to the China Food and Drug Administration, Changsheng fabricated production records as well as product inspection records, and arbitrarily changed process parameters and equipment, in “serious violations” of the law.

Shares in Chinese vaccine makers and biotech firms fell across the board on Monday after Premier Li Keqiang had slammed the vaccine maker for having crossed a moral red line.

While there have been no known reports of people being harmed by the vaccine, the regulator ordered Changsheng to halt production and recall the product. /