SHANGHAI/ZURICH, May 22 (Reuters) - Swiss drugmaker RocheHolding AG said on Thursday it had been visited by aunit of China's anti-trust regulator, amid increasing scrutinyover business practices in the pharmaceutical sector in thecountry.
"We understand that a local government unit in Hangzhouvisited Roche's offices on May 21, but the specific details arenot yet clear. We will cooperate fully with the work of therelevant government department," Roche said in a statementemailed to Reuters on Thursday.
A Basel-based spokesman added that the authority was a localunit of China's State Administration for Industry and Commerce(SAIC), one of the country's anti-trust regulators, and the bodywhich usually takes the lead on probes into corruption.
Last week Chinese authorities charged executives at Britishdrugmaker GlaxoSmithKline over bribery and corruption,with legal and industry sources saying that the crackdownagainst the pharmaceuticals sector was now likely to get moreintense.
GSK has said it wants "to reach a resolution that willenable the company to continue to make an important contributionto the health and welfare of China and its citizens". (Reporting by Adam Jourdan in SHANGHAI and Caroline Copley inZURICH; Editing by Kazunori Takada and Edwina Gibbs)
Glaxosmithkline (GSK)