09 January 2014 (07:20 UTC-07 Tango)/07 Rabi ‘al-Awwal 1435/19 Dey 1392/09 Gui-Chou (12th month) 4711

Swiss based Novartis is being sued by the United States, and under investigation for criminal charges in Japan!

Novartis makes Diovan (aka Valsartan  or Angiotan), and Exjade.

The U.S. state of New York accuses Novartis of bribing pharmacy company BioScrip regarding patent rights on the drug Exjade.  BioScript has already agreed to pay a fine regarding the patent fraud case.

In Japan, the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor say Novartis bribed Japanese universities to doctor studies on Diovan.  The university studies actually concluded that Diovan does not do what Novartis claims it does.

Novartis admitted they had a corporate spy at one university, working to falsify one study.  Japanese hospitals stopped using the drug.

All this comes as the U.S. FDA is considering approving the Novartis drug Serelaxin.  Also, U.S. drug pusher, Merck, is in talks with Novartis to make a $5-billion USD ‘swap’.

The swap involves trading Novatis’ animal/human vaccine program for Merck’s over-the-counter health-products unit at the Research Triangle Park area of North Carolina.