China has sacked a senior provincial official and is probing a former top drug regulator after a safety scandal at vaccine maker Changsheng Biotechnology Co Ltd, which again warned it could be delisted over the scandal.
Euronews reports that the company was accused in July of falsifying data for a rabies vaccine and manufacturing an ineffective vaccine for babies, sparking widespread consumer anger.
While there were no known reports of people being harmed by the vaccines, regulators ordered Changsheng to halt their production and recall the rabies vaccine. Changsheng has apologised and said it is cooperating in the investigation.
A meeting of the ruling Communist Party’s Politburo, overseen by President Xi Jinping, ordered the sacking of Jin Yuhui as vice governor of the northeastern province of Jilin, where the company is based, state media said late on Thursday.
Jin had been in charge of supervisory work over food and drug safety.
Wu Zhen, a former deputy head of the food and drug regulator, will be investigated by the party’s anti-corruption watchdog, it said in a separate statement.
