AstraZeneca to pay $5.5m in bribery case

UK-based company AstraZeneca will have to pay $5.5 million to resolve a bribery case after  allegedly falsely rewarding healthcare officials in China and Russia.

The bribery included “improper payments of gifts, conference support, travel, cash and other benefits”, according to US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The SEC  reportedly claimed that AstraZeneca had set up bank accounts in doctors’ names and held fabricated conferences, among other things.

It was also reported that some employees at AstraZeneca in China paid cash to local officials to avoid fines.

According to the SEC, the doctors were bribed in a bid to increase purchases of AstraZeneca’s products.

AstraZeneca, which reportedly neither admitted nor denied any wrongdoing, said: “We are pleased to have resolution for these matters.”

AstraZeneca is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.