The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, has issued a grave warning to the Nigerian public and medical community over the discovery of counterfeit batches of two critical cancer medications, Avastin and Tecentriq.
It was earlier reported by DAILY POST that the regulatory body revealed that the fake drugs are currently being sold across the country, posing a severe threat to patients battling advanced cancers.
However, in a statement issued by NAFDAC on Wednesday, the agency confirmed that the counterfeit batches of Avastin and Tecentriq are in circulation across the country.
The alarm was triggered following official reports from Roche Nigeria, the company authorised to distribute the genuine products.
According to the agency, healthcare providers raised concerns after patients turned up at medical centres with suspicious vials they had purchased from unauthorised sources.
Avastin is a vital therapy used to treat brain tumours in adults, while Tecentriq is a specialised immunotherapy used for lung, liver, and skin cancers. The agency warned that using these fake versions is a gamble with life itself.
The counterfeit drugs were reportedly sold at significantly lower prices, ranging between NGN 180,000 and NGN 350,000. Patients have, in several instances, brought these suspicious products to healthcare facilities, prompting investigations by Roche Nigeria.
According to NAFDAC, investigations revealed clear differences between the counterfeit products and genuine Roche items. “Batch numbers do not correspond to genuine Roche batches. There are differences in artwork and printing quality, wrong placement of text, inconsistent tamper-evident labels, and serial numbers that do not match the genuine Roche serialisation system,” the alert stated.
The agency noted that chemical analyses could not be conducted as the investigation relied solely on photographs of the packaging submitted by complainants, with no physical samples returned to Roche.
NAFDAC warned that counterfeit oncology medicines may contain incorrect or no active ingredients, harmful contaminants, or incorrect dosage strengths.
“This may result in treatment failure, disease progression, serious adverse events, or death,” the agency stated.