FDA Issues Warning On Counterfeit Cancer Treatment.

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FDA Issues Warning On Counterfeit Cancer Treatment.

The Wall Street Journal (2/6, Weaver, Subscription Publication) reports that the FDA on Tuesday, issued a warning to healthcare providers that a fraudulent drug product, purporting to be the injectable cancer treatment, Altuzan (bevacizumab), is being distributed in the US. The agency said the Great Neck, New York-based drug wholesaler, Pharmalogical, shipped two batches of Altuzan, the Turkish brand name for Roche Holding's Avastin, to providers in the US; and internal laboratory tests so far, have confirmed that there is no active ingredient in at least one of the batches. The FDA said that although it is not aware of any patients having received the fraudulent product, the agency is still working to identify physicians who may have purchased the product from Pharmalogical, which also does business under the names Medical Device King and Taranis Medical. Meanwhile, the Journal says an attorney representing Pharmalogical is claiming the FDA's warning is inaccurate.