Japanese media are reporting some uncomfortable ties between Novartis and some suspicious Japanese research linked to valsartan (Diovan), a lucrative blood-pressure drug. Sales of the drug hit ¥119.2 billion (US$1.3 billion) in 2011, making it the top-selling drug for Novartis’s Japanese subsidiary and the third-best-selling drug in Japan. The boom in sales followed reports that it not only lowere