Roche faces Xenical diet clinic probe

Swiss drug major Roche is facing allegations that it sold its prescription-only slimming pill Xenical (orlistat) to UK diet clinics and, in doing so, violated UK drug industry marketing rules. According to the UK's Financial Times, the Basel-headquartered firm is the focus of a UK Prescription Medicines Code of Practice Authority investigation related to its sale of large quantities of the product to a chain of private weight-loss clinics.

Robin Huxley, the operator of the clinics, was initially found to be prescribing Xenical without being a pharmacist or a physician in 2003. He has subsequently pleaded guilty to violations of the Medicines Act.

In February, the FT reported that Roche's supply of Xenical to the clinic in question was the subject of a complaint by Ryta Kuzel, the Swiss drug major's former head of UK regulatory affairs. Dr Kuzel, who left the firm shortly after Roche began investigating the issue in 2005 and successfully sued her former employer for unfair dismissal. She alleged that her dismissal was a result of her "whistleblowing" activity, but this part of her law suit was unsuccessful.