The South Korean FDA said it is investigating Roche's Korean unit as part of a probe into alleged illegal sales and purchases of Tamiflu (oseltamivir) involving multinational corporations, including Novartis. Roche spokeswoman Martina Rupp explained that "the South Korean government has recently cited pandemic stockpiling by a large number of companies. It is looking into this matter to check conformity with local regulations."

A spokesman for the South Korean FDA, Ahn Man Ho, explained that Roche is suspected of helping certain companies buy large stocks of Tamiflu in the country. The regulatory agency suggested there may have been violations to laws against large-scale purchases of drugs by non-medical personnel, and that the antiviral may have been illegally prescribed to patients.

Roche confirmed that it had a number of enquiries from companies regarding Tamiflu, and added "that anyone who wants it needs a prescription. At no time have we deviated from that position." Rupp added that the company is "fully collaborating with the authorities."

> The pharmaceutical industry and social media -- who leads, and who follows? Pharma and Social Media: The Leaders and Followers - click here to find out more

Reference Articles

Roche, HSBC, Novartis probed by Korea FDA on Tamiflu - (Bloomberg)

Roche's Seoul base raided in Tamiflu trade probe - (Financial Times)

Roche says cooperating with S.Korean investigators - (MSN News)

South Korea investigates Roche and Novartis - (SwissInfo)

Roche probed over illegal Tamiflu trade - (The Korea Times)