Novartis Suspended Top Scientists Before FDA Disclosure
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Novartis AG placed a pair of top scientists on administrative leave weeks before informing the U.S. Food and Drug Administration about problematic data concerning a drug the two men had helped develop, a person familiar with the matter said.
The drug, a cutting-edge gene therapy called Zolgensma, was being reviewed by the agency at the time and was eventually approved. Novartis told the FDA in June that it had discovered the potential manipulation of animal-testing data related to the medication, weeks after the $2.1 million-a-dose treatment had hit the U.S. market.