Dive Brief:
- Chinese authorities have sentenced British private investigator Peter Humphrey and his American wife, Yu Yingzeng, to more than two years in prison over allegations that the couple illegally procured private information about Chinese citizens.
- GlaxoSmithKline had hired Humphrey to investigate an unknown informant who accused GSK of bribery and other malfeasance, as well as to figure out who had planted a camera in former GSK executive Mark Reilly's bedroom and recorded a sex tape of Reilly and his Chinese girlfriend.
- The charges against Humphrey and Yingzeng include selling private information to multinational corporations, such as GSK China.
Dive Insight:
GlaxoSmithKline's struggles in China have thus far resembled a John le Carré novel with a healthy dose of 50 Shades of Grey thrown in. Humphrey was unable to identify who recorded Reilly -- who was arrested by Chinese officials on bribery charges earlier this year -- and China has now ruled that Humphrey and his wife collected Chinese citizens' private information and sold it to multinational corporations.
It does not appear that news of the arrest -- or the other allegations against GSK -- is doing much to hurt the company in the immediate future. Although GSK stock does not look too hot compared to one year ago, its share price was up nearly 0.5% on Friday. Chinese officials claim that GSK has spent millions bribing doctors in the country to prescribe the pharma giant's products.