Former Serono Executives Indicted

Four former executives of Serono Inc. were indicted yesterday on charges they offered bribes to doctors to prescribe the company's treatment for AIDS. The indictments, which also include conspiracy charges, are the most severe step yet in an ongoing federal investigation. They put under a microscope Serono's attempts to boost faltering sales of Serostim, a treatment for AIDS wasting, in the late 1990s. Lawyers for two defendants said their clients deny wrongdoing, and that their sales tactics were commonly accepted at the time. All four figures worked for the Rockland-based unit of the Swiss drug developer Serono SA. Lately the Justice Department has been emphasizing cases against drug companies, many of whose products are ultimately paid for by government reimbursements. However, jurors acquitted defendants in a major trial last year over marketing tactics at another company, TAP Pharmaceutical Products. According to an indictment released by US Attorney for Massachusetts Michael J. Sullivan, the four Serono executives offered doctors trips to attend a medical conference in Cannes, France, in return for prescribing certain amounts of Serostim, a human growth hormone. Four people were named in the indictment: John Bruens of San Diego, previously a marketing vice president; Mary Stewart of North Andover, previously a vice president for sales; and two regional sales directors, Melissa Vaughn of Colorado and Marc Sirockman, of New Jersey.