(Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, NAFDAC Director General )
By Biola Lawal
Abuja (Flowerbudnews): Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, the Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), has warned Nigerians to beware of counterfeited avastin 400mg/16ml.
Prof. Adeyeye said that two cases involving the counterfeited Avastin batches, had been confirmed by NAFDAC, disclosing that the falsified drugs had batch numbers H0223B08 and H4239A70 in Nigeria. H0223B08
In a public alert on the fake drugs, the NAFDAC Boss said that the
Marketing Authorization Holder (MAH) of original Avastin, Roche Roche Diagnostics of Germany, had notified NAFDAC that a pharmacist reported the purchase of the counterfeited Avastin Vials 400 mg/16 ml, batch H0223B08 by a patient from a pharmacy in Kano.
Prof. Adeyeye stated further that the
batch had earlier been published in a previous public alert from NAFDAC.
She said that another counterfeited Avastin Vials 400 mg/16 ml, batch H4239A70 was reported by a Pharmacist in the Federal Medical Center, in Abuja.
”However, investigation has confirmed that the genuine batch number H0223B08 is associated with Avastin 400mg/16ml in Vietnamese make-up, the genuine product was distributed to Vietnam in July 2020, and the batch H0223B08 already expired in July 2022,” the NAFDAC Boss said.
She added that investigation revealed that no batch tracing was possible for Avastin 400mg/16ml with batch no H4239A70 as this is not a genuine Roche product and the batch number doesn’t exist in their database.
”Avastin 400mg Injection is an anticancer medication. It is used in the treatment of cancer of the colon and rectum, non-small cell lung cancer, kidney cancer, brain tumor, ovarian and cervical cancer.
”It helps to prevent the growth of new blood vessels that feed tumors and stops tumors from growing,” Prof. Adeyeye stated.
Possible Risks
She warned that ”counterfeit medicines may be harmful to health because while being passed off as authentic, it may contain the wrong ingredients, contain too much, too little or no active ingredient at all or contain other harmful ingredients and can result to poisoning, treatment failure and compromised drug effectiveness”.
Prof. Adeyeye disclosed that ”he correct manufacturing site for genuine Avastine vial 400mg/16ml is Roche Diagnostics GmbH Sandhofer Strasse 11668305, Mannheim, Germany.’:
The NAFDAC Boss ”implores importers, distributors, retailers and consumers to exercise caution and vigilance within the supply chain to avoid the importation, distribution, sale and use of the affected lots of the product.
”All medical products must be obtained from authorized/licensed suppliers. The products’ authenticity and physical condition should be carefully checked.,” She counseled.
She urged ”anyone in possession of any of the counterfeit lots is advised to immediately discontinue sale or use and submit stock to the nearest NAFDAC office,” adding;
” If you have used any of the product, or someone you know, have used it, or suffered any adverse reaction/event after use, you are advised to seek immediate medical advice from a qualified healthcare professional.”
She advised Healthcare professionals and consumers to report any suspicion of substandard and falsified medicines to the nearest NAFDAC office, NAFDAC on 0800-162-3322 or via email: sf.alert@nafdac.gov.ng, adding:
”Similarly, healthcare professionals and patients are also encouraged to report adverse events or side effects related to the use of the medicinal product to the nearest NAFDAC office, or through the use of the E-reporting platforms available on the NAFDAC website www.nafdac.gov.ng or via the Med-safety application available for download on android and IOS stores or via e-mail on pharmacovigilance@nafdac.gov.ng ”
Prof. Adeyeye emphasised that ”this notice will be uploaded to the WHO Global Surveillance and Monitoring System (GSMS).” (Flowerbudnews)
