Spurious Lipitor unearthed in Britain |
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Fri, 29 Jul 2005 20:05
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LONDON: Spurious packets of Pfizer's blockbuster cholesterol drug Lipitor were unearthed by British authorities in raids at some wholesaler locations on July 22. The Medicines and Healthcare
products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said Thursday 73 packs of the 20 milligram dose of the drug were seized during the raid.
MHRA is contacting 20,000 pharmacies (retailers and wholesalers) in the country and is recalling all that remains of a 120,000-packet batch 004405K1. Each packet contains 28 x 20mg pills.
MHRA said the seized packets were tested in a lab and were found to be fake, containing a different statin not currently marketed in Britain. Customs authorities in Rotterdam had seized counterfeit drugs in May last.
MHRA is not sure how many patients would have taken the fake drug and of its impact. It said anyway there is no immediate risk to their health.
Pfizer reacted to the seizure saying, it is alarmed at the discovery and that the drugs would have reached Britain through parallel trade, whereby drugs are shipped around Europe to exploit price differences.
The company urged for new measures like outlawing the repackaging of original manufacturers' medicines and introduction of tamper-resistant medicine packaging and standardised European bar code for medicines.
Lipitor accounts for worldwide sales of more than $10 billion. The drug, which costs 24 pounds a pack of 28, contains statins, prescribed to patients diagnosed as having increased risk of
cardiovascular disease and diabetes and those with angina and high blood pressure.
MHRA's head of intelligence Nimo Ahmed said the spurious drug had come from outside the EU. "This discovery illustrates what we have been saying for some time, that no pharmaceutical supply chain is impenetrable. The UK's supply chain is one of the most difficult to penetrate because of the safeguards that are in place. We will continue to maintain such vigilance and keep improving our
anti-counterfeit methods to protect our public and stay ahead of the criminals."
Last year, MHRA had detected counterfeit batches of anti-impotence drug Cialis and weight-reducing drug Reductil.
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