Novartis dragged into China bribery scandal The whistleblower, who said she supervised drug sales at large Beijing hospitals, claimed her manager instructed her to give Rmb50,000 (£5,260) in bribes to doctors to guarantee Rmb640,000 in cancer drug sales during June and July this year. Global pharmaceutical companies operating in China have been on high alert since four sales staff from British drug maker GlaxoSmithKline were detained by Chinese police last month. While public allegations have only surfaced against Novartis, GSK and Sanofi, a growing list of Western pharmaceutical companies with Chinese operations have been drawn into a wider crackdown on pricing manipulation and corruption in the sector. Separately on Wednesday, Chinese state news agency Xinhua, which is considered a mouthpiece for the government, said authorities planned to intensify efforts to crack down on widespread bribery in the pharmaceutical sector. In a clear warning to the sector, it added that the regulator would dole out severe punishment for bribery found in the bidding process for drugs and medical services as that hurt the interests of the Chinese people.