China halts imports of Pfizer drug on paperwork glitch

China suspended imports of U.S. drugmaker Pfizer Inc's AIDS-related drug Diflucan on Tuesday, citing a problem with late paperwork, the country's food and drug watchdog said in a statement on its website. Pfizer, the largest drugmaker in the United States, contravened Chinese law when one of its France-based factories failed to submit a supplementary application on time, the China Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said in the statement. With the country's healthcare spending forecast to nearly triple to $1 trillion by 2020 from $357 billion in 2011, according to consulting firm McKinsey, China is a magnet for makers of medicines and medical equipment. Pfizer has taken steps to resolve the issue and is working with China's FDA to ensure its products comply with Chinese law, it said in a statement on its Chinese-language website.

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