Counterfeit Avastin found in USA by FDA

The US Food and Drug Administration said yesterday that it is warning health care professionals and patients about a counterfeit version of Swiss drug major Roche’s (ROG; SIX) Avastin (bevacizumab), 400mg/16mL, which may have been purchased and used by some medical practices in the USA.

Avastin, which generated sales of 5.29 billion Swiss francs ($5.77 billion) for Roche last year, is an injectable medicine used to treat various forms of cancer and is administered to patients in clinics, hospitals and doctors’ offices. The counterfeit version of Avastin does not contain the medicine’s active ingredient, bevacizumab, which may have resulted in patients not receiving needed therapy, the FDA noted.

The drug is marketed in the USA by Roche’s Genentech subsidiary, which was contacted about the counterfeit Avastin by a health authority outside the USA and was informed that the drug in the USA came from another country, but declined to divulge which one, reported The New York Times. “We are working with the F.D.A. and law enforcement to aid their evaluations, determine the source of the counterfeit drug, and prevent its further distribution,” the company explained in a statement.