The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has raised the alarm over fake cancer treatment drug called Phesgo.
Consequently, the regulatory agency has notified Nigerians and healthcare providers to beware of the drug.
Phesgo comes in 600mg/600mg/10ml and is labelled with batch number C5290S20.
NAFDAC’s message is contained in a public alert (No. 051/2024) seen on the agency’s website.
According to the agency, the Marketing Authorisation Holder (MAH), Roche received a complaint from a doctor at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH-NSIA) about the suspected counterfeit product.
A patient reportedly brought Phesgo 600mg/600mg labelled with batch number C5290S20 for administration and NAFDAC disclosed that though the drug had not been administered, it matched the characteristics of a previously reported counterfeit batch, C3809C51.
“Although no physical sample was returned to Roche for investigation, images of parts of the product specifically, a Phesgo 600mg/600mg vial and a 10ml folding box were examined.
“The suspected product’s images were compared to genuine samples retained by Roche.
“Roche’s investigation identified several significant differences between the complaint sample and genuine materials, confirming the counterfeit status of the batch.
“These included: no batch number in the MAH database, discrepancies in language, missing basilisk, incorrect bollino date, and tampered evidence labels that did not match genuine Roche materials.
“Since no physical sample was available for chemical analysis, the investigation was limited to visual comparisons,” the agency said.
NAFDAC revealed that Phesgo 600mg/600mg Solution for Injection is used for the treatment of breast cancer and that it kills cancer cells and prevents their further growth.
