Novartis CEO Explains Delay In Telling US FDA About Zolgensma Data Fraud: We Wanted To Understand It First

Novartis is in the process of "exiting" the "small number" of scientists involved in the fraud, CEO Narasimhan says.

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Novartis' Rob Kowalski said the company investigated the zolgensma fraud as prescribed in internal policies. • Source: Shutterstock

Novartis AG tried to squash any thoughts that it had a nefarious intent in not disclosing the data fraud it knew about before approval of its gene therapy Zolgensma, saying the company wanted a full understanding of the issue first before bringing it to the attention of regulators.

CEO Vasant Narasimhan said during a 7 August conference call with analysts that the company determined safety, efficacy, and quality...

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