Roche re-joins UK's ABPI eight years after code breach ban

Swiss pharma major Roche (ROG: SIX) has rejoined the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI).

In 2008, the company’s membership of the trade group was suspended for six months in connection with serious breaches of the ABPI Code of Practice.

This followed a ruling from the Code of Practice Panel of the Prescription Medicines Code of Practice Authority (PMCPA) – an arm’s length body that administers the ABPI Code of Practice – that Roche had inappropriately supplied Xenical (orlistat), a prescription-only obesity drug, to the operator of private diet clinics. The company was also found to have paid £55,000 ($73,000 at current exchange) to the operator to buy another clinic.