Sanofi receives allegations of improper payments dating back seven years

French pharma major Sanofi (Euronext: SAN) has notified the US Department of Justice and the US Securities and Exchange Commission over allegations of bribery in the Middle East and East Africa.

The company said t has received “anonymous allegations of wrongdoing related to improper payments to healthcare professionals in connection with the sale of pharmaceutical products that may have occurred between 2007-2012 in certain parts of the Middle East and East Africa.”

A statement from Sanofi said: “Sanofi takes these allegations seriously. Immediately after receiving these allegations, we made an initial assessment and engaged an experienced external counsel to conduct a thorough investigation of all of these allegations. In addition, we proactively notified the US Department of Justice and the US Securities and Exchange Commission of all of the allegations and indicated we would cooperate with any potential review. The investigation is still ongoing and is expected to take some time given that the allegations date back seven years. At this stage, it is too early to draw conclusions.”