By Joanne Chiu
HONG KONG--A former Sinopharm Group Co. (1099.HK) senior
official has been detained in a corruption investigation, the
company said.
Former vice president Shi Jinming was detained on Jan. 10 by
Shanghai authorities, the pharmaceutical products distributor said
in a statement on Sunday.
Mr. Shi resigned in late December for personal reasons and left
the company Jan. 7, it added without further details.
In addition, a former general manager of wholly owned unit
Sinopharm Holding Distribution Co. Ltd. Xu Yizhong is also involved
in the investigation, the Hong Kong-listed company controlled by
state-run China National Pharmaceutical Group Corp. said.
Both Mr. Shi and Mr. Xu couldn't immediately be reached for
comment.
The investigation has no material impact on operations and a
committee to examine and review internal controls has been set up,
Sinopharm said.
There has been a crackdown on pricing to graft in the industry.
In July U.K. drug company GlaxoSmithKline PLC (GSK) was accused of
bribing doctors, hospitals and government officials to buy more
drugs at higher prices. Glaxo said some managers may have broken
the law and is cooperating with the probe.
Write to Joanne Chiu at joanne.chiu@wsj.com
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