--FILE--A Chinese employee is seen at the office of Eli Lilly in Shanghai, China, 4 November 2010. Pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly, one of the worlds biggest insulin producers, has been accused of systematically bribing physicians and hospitals in Shanghai to promote the sales of two of its insulin products, reported the Guangzhou-based 21st Century Business Herald. The news has raised the number of foreign pharmaceutical giants accused of indulging in corrupt practices to promote sales in China to four, with the others being Britains GlaxoSmithKline, Frances Sanofi-Aventis and the Swiss firm Novartis. According to Elis 2012 budget plan, the company had allocated 9.5 million yuan (US$1.5 million) to promote two of its insulin lispro injections, marketed under the name Humalog. The fund was used specifically to sponsor sales-oriented international, national and district-level medical conferences. About 2.5 million yuan (US$408, 000) from the fund was used to target the pharmaceutical market in Shanghai. Wang Wei, a former executive at Eli, told the daily that another fund used to bribe physicians in Shanghai for recommending Humalog to patients was estimated to be about 30 million yuan (US$5 million).
