Glaxosmithkline Share News (GSK)

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is facing claims it bribed Syrian distributors to increase its sales in the Arabic country, Reuters news agency said on Tuesday.The international pharmaceutical giant had previously come under scrutiny for corruption in its non-prescription business in Syria and bribery claims in China.Reuters reported seeing an anonymous email sent to the GSK's chief executive officer, Andrew Witty, and the chair of the company's audit committee, Judy Lewent, which stated that "GSK has been engaging in multiple corrupt and illegal practices in conducting its pharmaceutical business in Syria".GSK, one of the few pharmaceutical firms still supplying products to the war-torn country, has announced it has suspended relation with its distributors in the Arabic country, while it carries out thorough investigations on the issue."All the claims in this email will be thoroughly investigated using internal and external resources as part of our ongoing investigation into operations in Syria," said a GSK's spokesman."We are committed to taking any disciplinary actions resulting from the findings. We have suspended our relationship with our distributors in the country pending the outcome of our investigation."The email gives names and dates of payment and also accuses the company of bribing officials at Syria's Ministry of Health to obtain vaccines for illegal resale, but Reuters claims the sums involved are largely inferior to the hundreds of millions GSK allegedly paid to doctors and officials in China.GSK shares were down 0.21% to 1374.6p at 10:52 on Tuesday.DC