Eli Lilly, Pfizer slip after US House panel probing China clinical trials

Merck & Co

Yesterday 15:18

Updates

    ** Shares of U.S. drugmakers fall in morning trading after a U.S. House committee wrote to Eli Lilly, Merck, AbbVie, Pfizer and Bristol Myers Squibb, opening 
    national security investigations
     into their clinical trials conducted in China, including sites in Xinjiang and military-affiliated hospitals
  

    ** Eli Lilly LLY.N falls 1.3% to $1,213.55, Pfizer PFE.N loses 1.4% to $24.04, Bristol Myers BMY.N, AbbVie ABBV.N, Merck MRK.N slip marginally

    ** Letters, seen by Reuters, ask companies to provide by July 17 details on trial oversight, patient protections, data security and due diligence
  
** Merck says patient safety and ethical integrity are priorities of its clinical research program and that it follows all global guidelines; AbbVie declines to comment

    ** Pfizer declines to comment beyond confirming it received the letter, while Bristol and Lilly did not immediately respond to requests for comment
  

    ** Evercore ISI analyst Elizabeth Anderson says the "probe is another sign of heightened geopolitical tension and the U.S. government's broader goal of decoupling the U.S. biopharma industry from Chinese suppliers and trial infrastructure"
  
** Committee says there is no evidence of wrongdoing, but warns that trials in China may pose ethical concerns and risks of sensitive biotechnology knowledge reaching the Chinese military
** YTD, MRK up 22.9%, ABBV up 11.3%, LLY up 14.5%, BMY up 8.6%, PFE down 2.1%, as of last close

 (Reporting by Kamal Choudhury in Bengaluru)
 ((Kamal.Choudhury@thomsonreuters.com;))