2013年4月30日火曜日

Nagoya Univ. begins probe of drug firm employee's involvement in clinical test

Nagoya Univ. begins probe of drug firm employee's involvement in clinical test

Nagoya University has launched an investigation into the suspected involvement of Novartis Pharma K.K.'s staff in clinical testing by the school's team on the pharmaceutical firm's blood pressure-lowering drug Valsartan.
Nagoya University, a national university corporation headquartered in the capital of Aichi Prefecture, began the probe on May 23 to find out how a Novartis Pharma employee was involved in compiling statistics, the amounts of scholarly donations from the drug firm and the accuracy of clinical data.
School officials say a four-member team initiated the investigation and will determine within three weeks if the university will set up an investigative panel. Nagoya University is the latest and last university to conduct an investigation out of five schools where clinical tests on Valsartan had been carried out. The four other schools are Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Jikei University School of Medicine, Shiga University of Medical Science and Chiba University.
Novartis Pharma K.K., the Japanese subsidiary of Swiss global pharmaceutical company Novartis, apologized on May 22 for failing to identify itself in papers despite involvement of its firm's personnel, saying the failure was inappropriate.
A team from Nagoya University started research on Valsartan's effects on patients with high blood pressure and poor ability to lower blood sugar in an attempt to lower the death rate of people suffering from cardiovascular disease and a paper on the research was published in 2012.
The team leader has told Nagoya University officials that the paper was not favorable to Novartis and that the team asked the Novartis Pharma employee to confirm analysis results. Masahide Takahashi, head of Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, says the school will double-check the issue because it has received scholarly donations.
Meanwhile, the Lancet, a British medical journal which carried a paper by the Jikei University School of Medicine, is inquiring at the medical college about the prospects of its in-house investigation. The paper, along with another paper by Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, has been used to promote the blood pressure-lowering drug Valsartan. But some experts are questioning the results of its clinical test.
Separately, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine's hospital, announced May 23 that it will halt transactions of Novartis Pharma products in principle. Jo Kitawaki, deputy director of the university hospital, said at a news conference that the hospital is taking the step to express its protest to the drug firm because the case may lead people to question suspected cozy ties with Novartis.
The university hospital purchases about 300 million yen's worth of 30 to 40 drugs, including Valsartan, annually from Novartis. Hospital officials say alternative items are available to Valsartan and many other Novartis drugs.
May 24, 2013(Mainichi Japan)

http://mainichi.jp/select/news/20130524ddm041040135000c.html
http://megalodon.jp/2013-0525-1143-02/mainichi.jp/select/news/20130524ddm041040135000c.html

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