Drug firm speaks out on tender scandal

Crown Pharmaceuticals and Research Laboratories Limited, a firm reportedly implicated in the K25 billion (about $83 million) Central Medical Stores Trust (CMST) drug tender scandal, has denied any wrongdoing.

In an e-mail interview, the company has also denied any association with the interdicted acting registrar of the Pharmacy, Medicines and Poisons Board (PMPB) Aaron Sosola, who is alleged to have leaked some tender information to Crown and a local firm.

The company argues it is being implicated by “some jealous and scrupulous business people who are avenging their anger to some government officials who blacklisted their businesses.”

It has since welcomed government inquiries into the scandal.

Said Crown Pharmaceuticals chief executive officer Balakrishna Shibu in an e-mail response on Saturday: “Under these circumstances, we strongly deny all the allegations against our company and will support any government enquiries regarding this.

“This story is indeed motivated by jealous of some scrupulous business personnel and it is a very good example of some of the business personnel avenging their failures to the honest government officials with malafide intentions.

“We requested Mr. Sosola to provide us the PMPB approved companies in India and other countries to import products at reasonable prices. Mr. Sosola, with a good helping intention, wrote directly to an Indian manufacturer, regarding our intention to import pharmaceutical products from them.”

On Friday, we reported that managing partner of Unichem, a pharmaceutical wholesale company, Majid Panjwani, exposed the alleged leakage of tender documents from Sosola to Crown.

The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has since joined the investigations and interviewed Panjwani.

CMST chief executive officer Feston Kaupa said the trust is
also investigating the matter.