Fake Avastin raises counterfeit drug trade concerns

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46404002/ns/health-cancer/#.TzxbooHW5OY

By MATTHEW PERRONE 2/15/2012

WASHINGTON — The discovery that a fake version of the widely used cancer medicine Avastin is circulating in the United States is raising new fears that the multibillion-dollar drug-counterfeiting trade is increasingly making inroads in the U.S.

The practice has largely been relegated to poor countries with lax regulations. But with more medicines and drug ingredients for sale in the U.S. being manufactured overseas, American authorities are afraid more counterfeits will find their way into this country, putting patients' lives at risk.

The Avastin discovery follows other recent instances in the U.S. of counterfeiting, involving such drugs as Viagra, the cholesterol medicine Lipitor and the weight-loss pill Alli.

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FDA officials said the counterfeit Avastin was imported from Britain and distributed by Volunteer Distribution, a wholesaler based in Gainesboro, Tenn. British regulators notified the FDA about the products in December, but the agency didn't confirm they were fake until last week.

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A vial of Avastin could treat up to four people. But because the treatments are spaced one to two weeks apart, it is not likely that someone would get more than one infusion from the same vial. And because these are people facing a life-threatening disease, it is hard to say whether missing one treatment with the real drug would compromise their care.

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Counterfeiting has become more prevalent as pharmaceutical supply chains increasingly stretch across continents. Over 80 percent of the active ingredients used in U.S. pharmaceuticals are now manufactured overseas, according to a recent congressional report, and experts say this has made it easier to move counterfeit products into this country.

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