Service
Pharma compliance & investigations.
When a life-sciences company faces an internal compliance concern, an independent legal review establishes what happened and what follows. The firm conducts confidential internal investigations and compliance audits (covering suspected kickbacks, off-label promotion and healthcare-integrity issues, MedTech distribution practices, and pre-acquisition due diligence), led by counsel separated from the function under review.
Who this is for
- Pharma affiliates responding to an internal compliance concern or a whistleblower report.
- MedTech companies whose distribution practices have come under scrutiny.
- Private-equity and strategic acquirers of Swiss or German life-sciences targets.
What's included
- Independent internal investigation: confidential legal review of a specific concern such as a suspected kickback, off-label promotion, or a benefit that may breach the HMG integrity provision (Art. 55), led by counsel separated from the function under review.
- Healthcare-integrity assessment: testing arrangements against the HMG integrity rule (Art. 55) and the transparency obligation on discounts and rebates (Art. 56), and against the healthcare-integrity ordinance (VITH), whose specific provisions are confirmed at engagement.
- Corruption-exposure review: where the facts touch bribery, assessment against the StGB provisions on bribery of public officials (Art. 322ter) and private-sector bribery (Art. 322octies).
- MedTech distribution-practices audit: review of distributor, agent and tender arrangements against the competition rules that apply to distribution; confined to distribution practices, not merger control or general cartel matters.
- Pre-acquisition compliance due diligence: a discrete review of a target's integrity, distribution and promotional conduct, reported to bear on valuation, representations and post-closing remediation.
- Findings and remediation: a documented assessment and a practical remediation path, delivered in phases.
How it works
- Scoping. The firm defines the question, the boundaries of the review and the legal basis under a confidential scoping engagement.
- Fact-gathering. The firm collects the relevant documents and, where appropriate, conducts interviews under legal privilege.
- Legal assessment. The firm tests the facts against the applicable integrity, distribution and corruption rules.
- Reporting. The firm delivers documented findings and a remediation path, calibrated to the audience: board, auditor or authority.
- Remediation support. The firm supports implementation and any required disclosure on a defined follow-on basis.
Indicative pricing
Fixed scoping + capped phases
from CHF 16,000 / scoping phase
Subsequent phases on a capped fee.
Indicative starting prices, net and exclusive of Swiss MWST (VAT) where applicable; final fee per written engagement letter.
Frequently asked questions
- Why use external counsel for an internal investigation rather than the in-house team?
- Independence and privilege. An investigation led by outside counsel is structurally separated from the function under review, which supports the credibility of the findings before a board, an auditor or an authority such as Swissmedic. In Switzerland, communications with an external lawyer can attract attorney professional secrecy, whereas an internal compliance file generally does not enjoy the same protection. Independent conduct also reduces the risk that the review itself is challenged as conflicted.
- Which Swiss rules govern kickback and benefit concerns in the medicinal-products sector?
- The HMG integrity provision (Art. 55) prohibits persons who prescribe, dispense, use or purchase prescription-only medicinal products, and the organisations that employ them, from soliciting, accepting or granting an undue advantage, subject to defined exceptions such as benefits of modest value and equivalent consideration. The HMG transparency obligation (Art. 56) governs the disclosure and pass-through of purchasing discounts and rebates. The healthcare-integrity ordinance (VITH) sets out the operational detail. Corruption involving public-sector actors is separately addressed by the StGB (Art. 322ter), and private-sector bribery by the StGB (Art. 322octies); the specific provisions are confirmed against the engagement facts.
- What does a MedTech distribution-practices audit cover?
- It reviews how products reach the market through distributors, agents and tender channels, and tests those arrangements against the competition rules that apply to distribution: for example resale-price and territorial restrictions, rebate and bundling structures, and exclusivity. The audit is confined to distribution practices; the firm does not advise on merger control or general cartel matters. The output is a documented assessment of where current arrangements carry legal exposure and how they can be adjusted.
- How does pre-acquisition compliance due diligence fit an acquisition timeline?
- It is scoped as a discrete phase that runs alongside the commercial and financial workstreams. The firm reviews the target's integrity and distribution arrangements, historical promotional conduct and any open compliance matters, and reports findings that bear on valuation, representations and post-closing remediation. The work is legal due diligence on the target's compliance posture; it is not corporate or transactional structuring, which the firm does not provide.