Chinese official linked to companies in two vaccine scandals: report
Report claims Hebei disease control cadre had ties to companies implicated in nationwide scare and one in Shanxi six years ago
A former executive of a Hebei pharmaceutical company caught up in the country’s vaccine scandal was a major stakeholder in another firm at the centre of a similar case six years ago in which about 100 children died or weredisabled, mainland media reported on Thursday.
The revelation came as the authorities said the number of people detained over the scandal had risen to more than 130, from 29 companies and 16 vaccination centres.
China Business News reported that Hebei Weifang Biological Products Supply Centre, a state-run firm linked to the provincial centre for disease control and prevention, was part of the network that distributed 570 million yuan (HK$679 million) worth of improperly stored or transported vaccines across 24 provinces.
Until January, the company’s legal representative was Zhao Baogang. Zhao was also the director of the Hebei CDC’s biological products supply management department, the report said.
Zhao had worked with another Hebei CDC employee, Cao Xiufen, to publish several academic papers on topics including vaccine industry management, the report said.
In 2010, the duo became major shareholders ofBeijing Huaxia Dezhong Biological Technology, which had been a delivery service for all vaccines in Shanxi since 2005.