Genzyme to Pay $32.5M for False Marketing of Seprafilm

Genzyme Corp. agreed in a deferred prosecution agreement filed Sept. 3 to pay $32.6 million to settle a U.S. criminal probe into the biotechnology firm’s false marketing of Seprafilm, a gel developed to reduce internal scarring after abdominal and pelvic surgeries (United States v. Genzyme Corp.).

Genzyme admitted in a statement of facts that its sales representatives sought to boost sales by teaching surgeons to use Seprafilm in unapproved ways from 2005 to 2010, federal prosecutors in Tampa, Fla., said in a statement.

While Seprafilm was approved for use in laparotomy surgeries involving large incisions, sales staff instructed ...