On Monday, the Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office in the Republic of Korea arrested an executive and another employee at biosimilar developer Samsung Bioepis for falsifying and destroying evidence and for violating audit law.
According to the Financial Times and other sources, on Monday, the Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office in the Republic of Korea arrested an executive and another employee at biosimilar developer Samsung Bioepis for falsifying and destroying evidence and for violating audit law.
In November 2018, Korean regulators from the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) said that, in 2015, Samsung BioLogics used accounting methods that allegedly misrepresented the value of the biosimilar maker prior to an initial public offering in 2016.
According to officials, Samsung BioLogics changed the way it accounted for its stake in Samsung Bioepis, a partnership with Biogen, by recognizing the partnership’s market value instead of its book value, thereby inflating its valuation.
According to Korea Biomedical Review, the arrest warrants that were executed this week are the first to be filed in the case and relate to data that may have been deleted from computers and mobile phones.
These data could be relevant, said officials, to determining whether Biogen’s contractual option to increase its share in the Samsung Bioepis partnership to 49.9% was hidden from accountants who were responsible for a merger between Cheil Industries and Samsung in 2015. Biogen announced in 2018 that it would exercise its option.
The arrests are the latest development in the probe that, last year, resulted in a $7.05 million fine, the suspension of Samsung BioLogics’ stock trading, and calls for the firing of the firm’s chief executive officer as well as the chief financial officer.
The company’s stock subsequently resumed trading in December 2018 after officials ruled that the company’s shares could remain listed while the case played out.
Then, in January of this year, a Korean court ruled that penalties against Samsung BioLogics should be suspended pending a final court determination on whether the company had indeed violated accounting standards.
For its part, Samsung BioLogics has maintained that it has not breached any accounting rules. In late 2018, the company launched an administrative lawsuit with the aim of proving the legality of its actions.
Exploring the Biosimilar Horizon: Julie Reed's Predictions for 2024
February 18th 2024On this episode of Not So Different, Julie Reed, executive director of the Biosimilars Forum, returns to discuss her predictions for the biosimilar industry for 2024 and beyond as well as the impact that the Forum's 4 new members will have on the organization's mission.
BioRationality: MHRA's Procedure Enables Automatic Registration of Biosimilars Approved Elsewhere
March 18th 2024Sarfaraz K. Niazi, PhD, explains how the new international recognition procedure under the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) could expand biosimilar access within the United Kingdom, in his latest column.
A New Chapter: How 2023 Will Shape the US Biosimilar Space for 2024 and Beyond
December 31st 2023On this episode of Not So Different, Cencora's Brian Biehn and Corey Ford take a look back at major policy and regulatory advancements in 2023 and how these changes will alter the space going forward.
Coherus Biosciences Cites Biosimilars as Main Drivers of 2023 Revenue Growth
March 14th 2024In its earnings report for the fourth quarter and full year of 2023, Coherus Biosciences detailed its rising revenue growth, which it partly attributed to increased sales for its pegfilgrastim and ranibizumab biosimilars.
Filgrastim Biosimilars in Europe: 15 Years of Real-World Evidence for Zarxio
March 13th 2024A review looking back at the last 15 years of experience with the first filgrastim biosimilar (Zarxio) provides a detailed overview on how filgrastim biosimilars came to be and the evidence behind why oncologists have come to accept them as standard practice.