China's drug firm fined USD 1.3 billion for faulty rabies vaccines

A Chinese biotech company whose rabies vaccines have been recalled from India after they were found faulty has been forced to pay USD 1.3 billion in penalties by China's State Drug Administration.

After the news of the faulty vaccines spread, the Drug Controller General of India ordered an immediate withdrawal of rabies vaccines from the market in August and banned its imports from the Chinese manufacturer.

The state-owned Changchun Changsheng Biotech Co in Jilin province was forced to pay about 9.1 billion yuan (USD 1.3 billion) in penalties on Tuesday after the drugmaker was involved in the human rabies vaccine safety scandal in July, the State Drug Administration said in a statement.

The scandal shook public confidence in China, casting a shadow on drugs produced in the country.

A compensation plan for victims was also unveiled. Families of those who died due to the problematic vaccines will receive a one-off compensation of 650,000 yuan for each victim, and victims who became severely disabled or paralysed will get 500,000 yuan, state-run China Daily reported on Wednesday.

The compensation will be 200,000 yuan for those mildly disabled, according to the plan.

The company, based in Changchun, Jilin, is a major vaccine producer and has been entangled in controversy since July 15, when the State Drug Administration announced it had found the firm to be engaged in falsifying production and inspection records in the making of rabies vaccines.

Changsheng's illegal activities included using expired vaccine raw materials, altering production dates, forging permits and destroying evidence during inspections, the statement said.

The State Drug Administration annulled the rabies vaccine approval document and certificates for related products from the company and also imposed a fine of 12.03 million yuan.