Former InterMune CEO W. Scott Harkonen Indicted for Wire Fraud and FDA ...( SAN FRANCISCO March 18 -- W. Sco...),Health

SAN FRANCISCO, March 18 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- W. Scott Harkonen, M.D., the former CEO of InterMune Inc., was indicted on wire fraud and felony Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act charges for his role in the creation and dissemination of false and misleading information about the efficacy of InterMune's drug Actimmune (Interferon gamma-1b) as a treatment for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), the Justice Department announced today.

The indictment alleges that Harkonen, a medical doctor, was the chief executive officer of InterMune from February 1998 through June 30, 2003, and a member of InterMune's board of directors from February 1998 through September 2003. Under Harkonen's direction, InterMune marketed and sold Actimmune to treat IPF, a fatal disease, despite the fact that the drug was not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a safe and effective treatment.

According to the indictment, Harkonen promoted and caused the promotion by InterMune of Actimmune as a safe and effective treatment for IPF, despite the lack of FDA approval, in order to sell more Actimmune and to generate revenues and profits from sales of the pharmaceutical for InterMune. The cost of Actimmune for one IPF patient for one year was approximately $50,000 and the vast majority of the company's sales of Actimmune were for the unapproved, off-label use of treating IPF.

The indictment further states that Harkonen devised a scheme to induce doctors to prescribe, and patients to take, Actimmune to treat IPF. As part of that scheme to defraud, on Aug. 28, 2002, InterMune issued a press release publicly announcing the results of a clinical trial of Actimmune for the treatment of IPF. Although the clinical trial in fact failed, Harkonen caused the issuance and distribution of a false and misleading press release to portray that the results of the trial established that Actimmune helped IPF patients live longer. Specifically, the press release's headline
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