The manager Hassan is accused of concealing scientific tests unfavorable to anti-cholesterol pills. Profitable
Big Pharma, the great medicine industry, is once again in the storm. And this time in the dock there is a manager acclaimed until yesterday for his successes in reviving the fortunes of companies in difficulty and for being a symbol of the "American Dream": the 62-year-old Pakistani Fred Hassan, who rose in almost 30 years career from employment in a fertilizer factory in Pakistan to the top of the pharmaceutical company Schering-Plough. He is accused of hiding for almost two years the results of a scientific study against his most profitable business, the anti-cholesterol pills Zetia and Vytorin. History seems to confirm the worst suspicions about the logic of profit that would move Big Pharma to the detriment of citizens' health. Film material such as «The Constant Gardener – The conspiracy» (from a novel by Le Carrè), where the pharmaceutical multinationals are «the villains» who kill poor Africans using them as guinea pigs for their products. But not only in Hollywood is the popularity of the big pharmaceutical companies at its lowest: in America they are also attacked by the Republican candidate for the White House John McCain for the high prices they impose on patients. Hassan had taken over the reins of Schering-Plough in April 2003, with a reputation as a great communicator, a manager attentive to seeking consensus and at the same time good at concluding deals. It is now the subject of parliamentary inquiries, lawsuits and new scrutiny by the Food and Drug Administration (the US authority in the sector). It all started with the publicity in mid-January of the "Enhance" study on the effects of Zetia, produced by Schering-Plough, and of Vytorin, a combination of the same Zetia and the "old" Zocor from Merck (to which 50% of the profits goes of the joint venture). Together, the two drugs were worth $5 billion in annual sales and 70% of Schering-Plough's profits as of yesterday. According to its inventors, Vytorin, launched in 2004 and three times as expensive as Zocor, lowers "bad" cholesterol much more than its alternatives and thus prevents heart disease and strokes better. "Enhance" showed instead that Vytorin, although more effective in fighting cholesterol, does not work better than other medicines in preventing blockage of the arteries. Hassan's defense is that the delay in publishing "Enhance" - whose tests ended in April 2006 - was unintentional and its results would not prove that Zetia and Vytorin are two bad medicines. Indeed, to show his good faith, Hassan announced that he had invested $2 million of his own money in the shares of Schering-Plough, which has plunged by 20% since mid-January. The purchase of the bonds will be possible after the announcement of the 2007 budget and after the scientific conference of the American college of cardiology in March, which will discuss all the data of «Enhance». Hassan is at stake not only for his wallet, but also for his reputation and position. Graduated in chemical engineering from the University of London and with an MBA from Harvard business school, he was born in Pakistan: his father was a diplomat and his mother an activist for women's rights ("She didn't accept the status quo and I think I have taken a little from her,” Hassan told the Financial Times). His first success was in the 1970s as head of Sandoz (now Novartis) in Pakistan, where he made a business that was in the red ultra-profitable. So he was promoted to head of the US market, the first Pakistani top manager in America. Then it's pass
