Serano pleads guilty to Aids investigation

Serano is to plead guilty to charges brought by US investigators into the marketing of the Aids drug Serostim.

The guilty plea on two counts of criminal conspiracy, entered voluntarily, follows a previously announced ?398 million settlement to resolve the charges that it had illegally promoted the drug.

After accepting the plea, judge Reginald Lindsay immediately sentenced the company and ordered Serano to pay a $137 million criminal fine.

As a result of its criminal conviction, the firm will be excluded from all US federal health care programs for at least five years

Serostim is a growth hormone used in the treatment of Aids patients who face muscle wasting.

The company was accused offering payments to doctors who prescribed the drug, to encourage its slow sales. During the illegal promotion the US Justice Department claimed the firm made $90 million profit.

Serano has already made provision for the settlement recording an exceptional charge of $725 million in its earning report for the first quarter of this year. This sum was put aside to cover the settlement itself and related costs.

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