Monday, March 7, 2016

Holiday time delaying crackdown on counterfeit hepatitis medication

Counterfeit Versions of Gilead’s Blockbuster Hepatitis C Drug Found in Israel
Counterfeits of Gilead’s mega-blockbuster hepatitis C treatment Harvoni, which is generating billions per quarter in sales for the company, are emerging in Israel.

Switzerland’s drug regulator Swissmedic said over the weekend that the plastic bottles of the counterfeits, which originated in India, were imported via a Swiss trading company and “contain white instead of genuine yellow film-coated tablets,” the regulator said.

Holiday time delaying crackdown on fake medicine
By Shwe Yee Saw Myint | Monday, 07 March 2016
A health official on leave is causing a hold-up in the government’s response to counterfeit hepatitis medication.

The Food and Drug Administration said is waiting for approval to clampdown on the distribution of fake pills in the wake of a World Health Organization alert sent out at the end of February.

“We got information from the WHO and planned to respond quickly to this alert but we still do not have any permission from the health department of the Ministry of Health yet,” Dr Theingi Zin, director of drug control at the FDA, told The Myanmar Times.

She said the FDA wants to issue a public alert about the drugs through state media outlets.

“This is a really big issue because patients are buying and taking this medicine to help their disease but according to the WHO alert this medicine is fake,” she added.

The WHO warned hepatitis C patients to avoid the drug brands “Ledso” and “Dakavir”. The medications were packaged in bottles that listed the manufacturer as a pharmaceutical company named PHARCO based in Alexandria, Egypt. The company denied making drugs under either name or in the combination of compounds listed on the bottles....
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WHO warns of fake drugs
By Laignee Barron | Friday, 04 March 2016
Beware of fake hepatitis medication ​The World Health Organization has warned hepatitis C patients that counterfeit medications are being sold in Myanmar.

Drugs branded as “Ledso” and “Dakavir” are fakes, according to an alert put out by the WHO.

Factory making fake Hepatitis C drug raided
Mar 1
Assisted by the Federal Investigation Authority (FIA), personnel of the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) raided one of the local industries in Islamabad’s Kahuta industrial area here Saturday, leading to the discovery of unlawful manufacturing of Sofasbuvir tablets, which are used for the treatment of Hepatitis C, and Everlong tablets, the registration of which has long been withdrawn.
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