ZURICH: The head of ethics and compliance at Novartis is retiring next month, the Swiss drugmaker said on Tuesday, stepping down as the company's conduct comes under scrutiny in two of its markets. Eric Cornut, a 27-year Novartis veteran, was named to the post in August 2014 to root out any bad behaviour at the group.
Cornut, who will be 59 next month, will remain a government affairs adviser to Chief Executive Joe Jimenez.
The move comes as Novartis fights a widening lawsuit by US prosecutors who allege its sales force ran a decade-long doctor kickback scheme involving sham events that led to overcharging the federal government.
It has disputed the allegations, which were filed in 2013, but now faces an investigation in Turkey after an anonymous whistleblower alleged it paid bribes there to secure business advantages worth an estimated $85 million. Novartis said Shannon Klinger would succeed Cornut.
She was mostly recently general counsel for its Sandoz generics business. "Ms Klinger will be responsible for continuing to strengthen Novartis' commitment to integrity and compliance and for overseeing global litigation and investigations," Novartis said.
Comments
Comments are closed.