Novartis overhauls Japanese unit after drug scandal

By Yoko Kubota TOKYO (Reuters) – Novartis AG said on Thursday it had overhauled management operations and sanctioned key staff in Japan after a scandal involving research into its Diovan blood pressure drug in the country. The Swiss company’s pharmaceutical head David Epstein said the episode would not have a significant impact on the group’s profits, although he acknowledged sales of the drug had fallen. “Overall Diovan is a relatively small part of our portfolio, given the breadth of the medicines that we have, so the impact should not be significant,” Epstein said. …