AstraZeneca alleged to have breached UK Code of Practice with Seroquel ads

9 March 2010

Anglo-Swedish drug major AstraZeneca is under investigation for breaches of the UK Prescription Medicines Code of Practice Authority (PMCPA) rules relating to the promotion of its blockbuster anti-psychotic drug Seroquel (quetiapine).

A web site posting from the Authority updating complaints received as of this morning lists three cases, brought by an ex-employee, a member of the public and a journalist. However, a spokeswoman for the PMCPA declined to give The Pharma Letter any further details, other than to say that the respective parties are free to appeal.

However, Financial Times journalist Andrew Jack reports that AstraZeneca failed to reflect accurately the side-effects of Seroquel in an advertisement to doctors. He said that the group breached three points of the industry's code of practice with a marketing claim that Seroquel had "a favorable weight profile across the full dose range" compared with rival drugs, according to a preliminary ruling by the PMCPA.

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