InterMune pulmonary, infectious, hepatic news
W. Scott Harkonen, former president and CEO of InterMune, was indicted by a grand jury in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on wire fraud and felony Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) charges related to the promotion of Actimmune interferon gamma-1b. According to the complaint, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California and the civil division of the U.S. Department of Justice allege Harkonen promoted and caused the promotion of Actimmune as a safe and effective treatment for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), for which it is not approved.
The indictment also alleges that Harkonen devised a "scheme" to induce doctors to prescribe and patients to take the drug for IPF. As part of the scheme, the indictment said, Harkonen "caused the general public media and InterMune's sales force to communicate information about the GIPF-001 Phase III trial results that falsely portrayed Actimmune as an effective treatment for IPF by helping IPF patients live longer." ...