China fines pharma firm $1.3bn in vaccine scandal

Chinese authorities have slapped penalties totalling a whopping $1.3 billion on a pharmaceutical company over a vaccine scandal that fuelled public fears of domestically-made medicine, drug regulators said yesterday. The massive fine and asset seizure is the latest move by authorities to punish Changchun Changsheng Biotechnology company, based in northeast Jilin province, over the faulty rabies vaccine.

The firm’s chairwoman and 14 other people were arrested in connection with the scandal in July, while more than a dozen national, provincial and local officials have been sacked. The manufacturer of rabies vaccines was ordered to cease production after it was found to have fabricated records.