China to Audit Sanofi, Bristol-Myers in Drugmaker Accounts Probe
- Chinese arms of major foreign drugmakers included in list
- Audit list randomly chosen, China’s Finance Ministry says
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China will audit 77 major pharmaceutical companies, including the local arms of Sanofi, Eli Lilly & Co. and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., after one of its largest listed drugmakers was found to have overstated its cash position by $4.3 billion.
The list of drugmakers to be audited in June and July was randomly chosen, China’s Ministry of Finance said Tuesday. The three multinationals were the only foreign companies on the list. Also included were China’s biggest domestic drug firms, among them Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine Co. and Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group Co. The announcement sent an index of health-care companies traded in Shanghai and Shenzhen down 1.8%.