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‘Drug makers offered W100b in rebates over 5 years’

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Published : Feb. 5, 2012 - 10:14


(Yonhap News)

FTC last year slapped fines on Korean units of Sanofi-Aventis and Janssen

 

Drug makers in Korea have offered nearly 100 billion won ($89.4 million) in rebates between 2006 and 2010, a report showed Sunday, pointing to a rampant illicit practice that has long dragged on one of Asia’s fastest-growing pharmaceutical markets.

Last year, 17 local and multinational firms were fined 14.3 billion for having offered cash, gift cards, lavish entertainment and other kickbacks to nearly 8,700 hospitals, doctors and pharmacists over the five-year period in return for prescribing their medicines, according to the Fair Trade Commission.

The toughest punishment of 18.6 billion won was slapped on Sanofi-Aventis Korea, the No. 4 player in the domestic market. Janssen Korea came next with 15.4 billion won, followed by Pacificpharma with 15.2 billion won and Hanall Biopharma with 8.9 billion won. The list also includes the Korean units of Novartis, Bayer and AstraZeneca, as well as CJ CheilJedang, Sama Pharm and Shinpoong Pharm.

“The actual sum of money used in unlawful financial dealings should be a lot larger than revealed as the time span of the investigation was only up to three years per company and there were also other cases for which we haven’t secured material evidence,” an FTC official was quoted as telling Yonhap News.

The antitrust watchdog noted that its crackdown on illegal rebates reached a tipping point in 2010 when it adopted a tipster rewards program, triggering a surge in whistle-blowing claims.

Vowing to sever the dubious relationship between drug makers and their clients, the government began punishing both the givers and receivers in late 2010.

Rebates are regarded as a common practice here among drug suppliers trying to defend their stake in the relatively small but saturated market.

Korea took up a meager 2 percent of the $856 billion world market as of the end of 2010, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare. Despite a recent slowing pace, the industry has grown 10 percent annually between 2003 and 2008.

Pharmaceutical firms operating here are believed to spend an average 20 percent of their revenues on rebate programs every year, worth some 3 trillion won in total. Their marketing budget accounts for about 35 percent of sales, nearly triple the manufacturing industry average.

Experts have for years criticized that pharmaceutical giants, doctors and pharmacists line their pockets at the expense of patients. They called for greater transparency and bigger investment in research and development, tagging their absence as the main obstacles to the domestic industry’s takeoff.

“In light of the rebate crackdown and drug price cuts, novel drug development is now a must, not an option, for the drug companies to sustain growth and enter international markets,” Lee Jung-min, a senior researcher at Korea Ratings, a rating and financial services firm in Seoul, said in a report.

In December, 13 groups representing the medical, pharmaceutical and healthcare equipment industries pledged to eradicate corruption during a joint rally in Seoul.

A spate of leading drug makers, including Dong-A Pharmaceutical, Green Cross and Daewoong Pharmaceutical, said they will sharply increase R&D spending to boost their competitiveness this year.

By Shin Hyon-hee (heeshin@heraldcorp.com)



 



`제약업계 독버섯' 리베이트 작년 적발액만 1천억



공정거래위원회가 지난해 적발한 제약사의 병· 의원 리베이트 규모가 1천억원에 육박한 것으로 나타났다.

5일 공정위와 제약업계에 따르면 공정위는 작년 국내 제약사와 다국적제약사 17 곳을 조사해 2006∼2010년 이들 업체가 969억5천300만원의 리베이트를 병·의원, 약 국에 제공한 사실을 밝혀냈다.

공정위는 이들 업체에 143억원의 과징금을 부과했다.

리베이트 제공액이 가장 컸던 곳은 사노파아벤티스코리아로 186억원이었다.

이어 한국얀센(154억원), 태평양제약(152억원), 한올바이오파머(89억원 ), 한국노바티스(72억원), 바이엘코리아(58억원), 삼아제약(41억원),  한국 아스트라제네카(40억원), 신풍제약(39억원), 영진약품(25억원), CJ

제일제당(20억원) 등 순이다.

연간 1~3건에 불과했던 제약사 리베이트 조사가 지난해 급증한 것은 2010년  도 입된 신고포상금제 덕분이다. 제약사 내부 직원의 고발이 늘어 적발 실적이 높았던 것이다.

제약업체에서 리베이트를 챙긴 병·의원, 약국 숫자는 무려 8천699곳(일부 중복 추정)이나 됐다.

자사 의약품의 처방·판매 대가인 리베이트는 다양했다. 현금·상품권 제공, 수 금할인, 회식비 지원, 골프 접대, 컴퓨터·TV 등 물품 지원, 세미나ㆍ학회행사 지원 등이다.

공정위 관계자는 "작년에 이뤄진 조사 범위는 업체별로 2~3년치에 불과하고  심 증이 있으나 물증이 없어 적발하지 못한 사례가 적잖았다. 제약사의 실제 리베이트 규모는 이보다 훨씬 많다"고 단언했다.

제약업계의 판매관리비는 35%로 일반 제조업(12%)을 훨씬 능가한 것으로 알려졌 다.

리베이트 비율은 20% 정도다. 2009년 말 기준 국내의약품 생산 규모가  15조8천 억인 점을 고려하면 연간 3조원 가량이 리베이트로 빠져나가 소비자에게 고스란히 전가된 셈이다.

공정위는 지난해 쌍벌제 시행 이후 리베이트 관행이 더욱 음성적으로 이뤄지고 있다고 보고 시장 모니터링을 강화할 방침이다. (연합뉴스)

 


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