Former California biotech executive convicted of fraud in marketing of Actimmune drug

Calif. biotech exec convicted of marketing fraud

SAN FRANCISCO — The former chief executive of the biotechnology company InterMune Inc. has been convicted of wire fraud in marketing of the drug Actimmune.

A federal jury in San Francisco convicted Dr. W. Scott Harkonen after a seven-week trial. He was acquitted of a separate charge of misbranding the drug, the U.S. Department of Justice said Friday.

Harkonen’s indictment last year charged that he made false and misleading statements about the drug’s effectiveness in fighting the fatal lung disease idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, known as IPF.

The conviction centered on an August 2002 news release that misstated the results of a clinical trial using Actimmune to treat the disease. The release falsely said the test showed Actimmune helped IPF patients live longer.

Prosecutors said the company, led by Harkonen, marketed the drug to treat IPF even though it wasn’t approved for that purpose by the Food and Drug Administration.

Treating one IPF patient with Actimmune for a year cost about $50,000, and most Actimmune sales were for the unapproved treatment of IPF, the Justice Department said.

The FDA has approved the drug to treat immune system disorder and a bone disease.

“Mr. Harkonen lied to the public about the results of a clinical trial and offered false hope to people stricken with a deadly disease,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Stephanie Douglas said in a statement.

Wire fraud carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and $250,000 fine.

Harkonen was InterMune’s chief executive from 1998 until 2003. The Brisbane-based company agreed in October 2006 to a nearly $37 million settlement with the government.