Prosecutors begin investigating vaccine case

BEIJING -- Chinese prosecutors have stepped-in to probe an illegal vaccine production case, the Supreme People's Procuratorate said Tuesday.

The Municipal People's Procuratorate of Changchun city in Jilin province set up a special team on Monday to work with the police to probe the vaccine production of Changchun Changsheng Life Sciences Limited (Changchun Changsheng).

An official with China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) said Sunday it found that the company had fabricated production records and product inspection records, arbitrarily changed process parameters and equipment during its production of freeze-dried human rabies vaccines.

The prosecutors are aiming to discover the harm on the public interests caused by the relevant vaccines and if relevant government departments properly did their jobs. They will also cooperate with a State Council investigation into the case.

Chinese leaders have ordered a thorough investigation into the case, which has caused widespread public concern.

The Jilin provincial food and drug supervision authority has revoked Changchun Changsheng's drug GMP certificate for rabies vaccines, halted their production and sale, and suspended approval of all the company's products.

Five people from the company are being investigated by police.

Also on Tuesday, the Provincial People's Procuratorate of Shandong began an investigation with a focus on DPT vaccines produced by Changchun Changsheng.

DPT refers to a combination of vaccines against three infectious diseases: diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus.

In October 2017, a batch of DPT vaccine produced by the company were found to be defective and the production of the vaccine was suspended since then, according to an official with the CFDA.