Drugs firm ends conference payments

Drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline will stop paying for doctors to attend medical conferences and scrap some sales targets as it seeks to mend its reputation in the wake of a damaging scandal over multimillion-euro bribery claims in China.

Chief executive Sir Andrew Witty said the changes were about putting the needs of patients first and “meeting the wider expectations of society” though he did not link them to the allegations.