One of the largest Canadian pharmaceutical companies, Pharmascience, was the target of a cyberattack in recent weeks, we have learned The Press. The Montreal company refuses to detail the extent of the attack, claiming to have since “secured” its computer systems.
” 1er June, we detected an unauthorized third party who accessed our network,” confirmed by email to The Press Valérie Piuze, director of communications for the generic drug manufacturer. She also refuses to specify the nature, scale and duration of the hacking.
It’s common for businesses to discover an intrusion weeks after it begins.
The Montreal manufacturer claims to have reacted promptly: “We immediately activated our incident response plan, secured our systems, and called on our leading cybersecurity experts. »
“We have since resumed operations safely and efficiently,” she wrote. The company declined to confirm whether there was a ransom demand and whether any amount would have been paid.
“Due to the confidential nature of this incident, we cannot provide further details,” adds Mme Piuze, assuring that “the supply of our products to patients and the security of our data are our main priorities. »
Created in 1983, Pharmascience presents itself as the largest Canadian-owned pharmaceutical company. An important link in the supply chain in Canada, it specializes in the manufacturing of generic drugs and offers more than 1,400 products.
In recent years, computer attacks have increased in the pharmaceutical sector. Last year, the Indian generic giant Sun Pharma – present in Canada since 2015 – discovered a vulnerability in the winter of 2023. In June of the same year, the Japanese Eisai was the target in June 2023 of an attack and had to shut down its IT systems globally.
Germany’s Evotec and Novartis have also suffered cyberattacks in recent years.
Two weeks ago, The Press revealed that the medical and personal data of patients from Innomar Strategies – a major Canadian manager of care programs related to specialty drugs – had been stolen following an intrusion into the computer system of the parent company, Cencora .
At the end of April, the London Drugs pharmacy chain had to close 79 stores in the west of the country – Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba and Saskatchewan – following a computer attack.