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LONDON (Alliance News) - GlaxoSmithKline PLC Friday confirmed that it received an email July 18 making claims of misconduct against its former consumer operations and related distributors in Syria.
Glaxo closed its consumer operations in the country in 2012 due to the "worsening domestic situation" in the country, and refocused its pharmaceuticals operations to supply medicines for humanitarian reasons.
The company said in a statement that it welcomes "people speaking up if they have concerns about alleged misconduct."
"Our compliance and legal departments were immediately notified and, as is our standard procedure, we immediately responded to the sender to confirm receipt and ask for more information," the company said in a statement.
"We have zero tolerance for any kind of unethical behaviour. We will thoroughly investigate all the claims made in this email," the statement added.
Glaxo has been weathering investigations from Chinese authorities over allegations that it paid up to USD500 million to doctors and hospital executives over the past six years. A series of other smaller bribery claims have since surfaced, in Poland, Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon.
In the UK, the Serious Fraud Office has launched an investigation into Glaxo's commercial practises, also addressing allegations of bribery.
Shares in Glaxo were trading down 1.9% at 1,441.25 pence Friday morning.
By Hana Stewart-Smith; hanassmith@alliancenews.com; @HanaSSAllNews
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