Pfizer Discloses 'Potentially Improper Payments' - WSJ.com

By PETER LOFTUS

Drug maker Pfizer Inc. said it has voluntarily provided U.S. authorities with information about "potentially improper payments" it made outside the U.S.

Pfizer said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday it provided information to the SEC and Justice Department about payments made "in connection with certain sales activities outside the U.S.," and is in discussions with the government to resolve the matter.

The payments in question were made by Pfizer and Wyeth, which Pfizer acquired in 2009, Pfizer said.

Pfizer has previously disclosed the potentially improper payments in prior SEC filings, most recently in its annual report filed in February, said spokesman Chris Loder.

Also, Pfizer said potentially improper payments and other matters are the subject of investigations by certain foreign countries, including a civil and criminal probe of a Pfizer unit in Germany related to tax matters.

U.S. authorities in recent years have stepped up enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, or FCPA, which bars U.S. companies from bribing foreign officials to obtain or retain business. U.S.-based multinational drug and medical-device makers have been among the targets of enforcement because they promote their products to doctors employed by national health systems outside the U.S.

Earlier this year, Johnson & Johnson agreed to pay nearly $80 million to resolve allegations that it paid bribes to doctors in three European countries, as well as kickbacks to Iraq to illegally obtain business under former leader Saddam Hussein.

And Eli Lilly & Co. disclosed earlier this year that it is in advanced discussions to resolve a federal investigation of whether it violated anti-foreign bribery laws.

Separately, Pfizer said it has received civil investigative demands and informal inquiries from the consumer protection divisions of several states seeking information and documents concerning the promotion of pain drug Lyrica and antibiotic Zyvox.

The company said the requests appear to relate to the same past promotional practices for these products that were the subject of previously reported settlements in September 2009--totaling $2.3 billion--with the Justice Department and the Medicaid fraud control units of various states.

Pfizer said it is exploring various ways of resolving the matter with the states.

Write to Peter Loftus at peter.loftus@dowjones.com

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