Boehringer-Ingelheim has some explaining to do; It's time biotech came to grips with compassion
Endpoints assesses the big biopharma R&D stories of the week, with a little added commentary on what they mean for the industry.
What did Boehringer-Ingelheim know, and when did it know it
News about the lethal cancer drug olmutinib continues to bubble out of South Korea. Members of the country’s opposition parties have used the controversy to float new reports of patient deaths as well as a document from Boehringer-Ingelheim dated August 23rd outlining serious safety issues with this drug that forced the end of clinical studies. It wasn’t until a month later, though, that Boehringer-Ingelheim washed its hands of the deal without initially even mentioning the problems publicly. The timing also triggered charges of insider trading in South Korea. At this stage, neither company is answering queries about the timing of their decision. A lack of transparency here will come back to haunt both companies, but Boehringer-Ingelheim — a well established private player — has the most to lose. Companies frequently like to stay mum about bad news, but this case involves patients who are still being given olmutinib in South Korea. They also have a debt to the patients they recruited for clinical studies to fully explain what’s going on. It’s time to come clean on what they knew and when they knew it.
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