ABPI Suspends Astellas UK for "Serious" Code Breaches

Astellas UK was last week suspended as a member of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI). ABPI reports that "This is in connection with a number of serious breaches of the ABPI Code of Practice for the Pharmaceutical Industry".

The action is a result of a complaint about an advisory board meeting for more than 100 doctors held by the drugmaker in Milan, Italy, in February 2014, which was ruled to be in breach of the Code. Astellas Europe advertised the meeting as an educational event about prostrate cancer, but the company was accused of using the gathering to push doctors to prescribe Xtandi, its treatment for men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.

A second complaint and further action by the Prescription Medicines Code of Practice Authority (PMCPA) followed the accusation that Astellas Europe had later "knowingly provided incorrect information to the PMCPA" with regard to the details of the Milan meeting.

The PMCPA Appeal Board reported the companies to the ABPI Board, which suspended Astellas UK from membership of the ABPI for 12 months.

Full details are published on the PMCPA website (Case AUTH/2747/1/15 and Case (AUTH/2780/7/15).​​