Fake cancer drugs in circulation – Nigerians warned

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The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has warned Nigerians about the circulation of counterfeit cancer medicines, Avastin and Tecentriq, in the country.

Avastin (bevacizumab) is used for the treatment of recurrent glioblastoma in adults.

Tecentriq (atezolizumab) is a prescription immunotherapy used to treat several advanced cancers, including non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC), hepatocellular carcinoma (liver cancer), and melanoma. In a public alert, the agency said it is “notifying healthcare professionals and the public of confirmed counterfeit batches of Avastin 400mg/16ml (Bevacizumab) and Tecentriq 1200mg/20ml (Atezolizumab) circulating in Nigeria”.

The alert, according to NAFDAC, followed official communication from Roche Nigeria, which confirmed several cases of counterfeit products in Nigeria after receiving complaints from healthcare professionals across the country.

The agency said in many cases, patients brought suspected counterfeit products to health facilities, adding that the medicines were sold at significantly lower prices, ranging from N180,000 to N350,000.

“The Marketing Authorization Holder (MAH) reported receiving complaints from healthcare professionals across Nigeria,” the alert reads.

“On investigation, the MAH (Roche Nigeria) compared the complaint samples to the genuine retained samples. The findings have provided clear evidence of counterfeit packaging material of the reported products.” The agency listed discrepancies observed during the investigation, noting that “batch numbers do not correspond to genuine Roche batches”, alongside “differences in artwork and printing quality”, “wrong placement of text”, and “incorrect variable data”.

It added that “tamper-evident labels” and serial numbers on the products were also inconsistent with Roche’s standard system.