The Pharmacy Poisons Board (PPB) has asked Kenyans to be wary of batches of counterfeit Herceptin 440mg (Trastumzab 440mg) that have reportedly flooded the market.
Herceptin is a drug currently approved by the U.S. drug regulatory agency, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), to treat metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer and stop cancer growth.
It reduces the risk of breast cancer coming back (recurrence) as part of a regimen with chemotherapy or alone after a chemotherapy regimen that contains an anthracycline (a type of antibiotic derived from certain types of bacteria).
Herceptin can also be used in combination with Perjeta and Taxotere before surgery to treat HER2-positive early-stage cancers larger than 2 cm, or cancers in lymph nodes, inflammatory or locally advanced stages of breast cancer. You can use it. The FDA says there is a high risk of spread and death.
“Perjeta in combination with chemotherapy after surgery to treat HER2-positive early-stage breast cancer with a high risk of recurrence,” the FDA says.
According to PPB, the country’s batch of products is claimed to be manufactured in Germany by Roche Products Limited.
“Batch number C5830083. Manufacture date December 2021, Exp. date November 2024. This particular product has been confirmed to be a counterfeit product and is not authorized for sale on the market. We would like to inform the public that this is not the case,” PPB said in an official statement on Saturday.
PPB CEO Dr. Fred Siyoi warned that “this is a counterfeit product, given the things identified by the brand owner, including the falsification of the content, packaging and labeling.”
The CEO further warned the public and called on Kenyans not to store counterfeit medicines.
“PPB cautions the public against the use, supply, sale and distribution of product batch number C5830083 as its safety, quality and effectiveness cannot be guaranteed,” he said.
To this end, the PPB cooperates with government investigative agencies to take legal and regulatory action against individuals who engage in illegal activities in violation of the PPB Act (section 244).
Dr Siyoi said PPB has also launched rapid responses and strengthened market surveillance to ensure the protection of public health.
“I would like to assure Kenyans that PPB has established a robust market surveillance and control system to continuously monitor the quality and safety of medical products in the Kenyan market,” the CEO said. We encouraged people to report information about suspicious activity and volunteer information.He will submit via PPB those related to such tampering activities and all questionable, substandard, tampered medical products. [email protected] or +254795743049.
