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Several months after various scientific papers for the best-selling Diovan heart drug sold by Novartis were retracted and a prominent researcher, who was the principal investigator in most cases, resigned his position from Kyoto Prefectrual University of Medicine, school officials now acknowledge that the underlying data was manipulated. This amounts to an about face - in January, the university conducted a probe and maintained there were no “irregularities.” The research was begun in 2004 by Hiroaki Matsubara, a former professor at Kyoto who co-authored papers between 2008 and 2012. These included the Kyoto Heart study, which was published in the European Medical Journal in 2009 and claimed Diovan reduced the risk of heart attacks and strokes, which Novartis (NVS) used in its promotions. The study helped Diovan become a huge seller in Japan and sales reached $5.6 billion worldwide in 2011 before generics became available.
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