ISLAMABAD – Pakistan’s Drug Regulatory Authority (DRAP) has issued urgent medical product alerts after the World Health Organization (WHO) warned about counterfeit blood cancer medicines circulating in the market.
The WHO identified fake versions of Jakavi tablets and Darzalex injections, prompting DRAP to ban the sale, distribution and use of the affected batches. The counterfeit products were falsely labelled as being manufactured by Novartis Switzerland and Janssen Cilag Belgium, both of which confirmed the batches are not genuine.
The affected batches include Darzalex 400mg (Batch STV01), Darzalex 100mg (Batch MYS7381), Jakavi 20mg (Batch AVT50), Jakavi 15mg (Batch FNR06) and Jakavi 10mg (Batch SGL04).
DRAP said laboratory testing found the counterfeit medicines failed to meet quality standards, with the authenticity of active ingredients unverified and unrelated particles detected in fake Darzalex injections. The regulator warned that using these products could pose serious, potentially life-threatening risks to patients.
