Calls for repackaging ban after counterfeit drugs found in UK

Pfizer has called for the repackaging of original manufacturer's medicines by third parties to be outlawed following the discovery of a batch of counterfeit drugs on the UK market.

Pfizer is working in conjunction with the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and law enforcement agencies to discover how the counterfeit batch of Lipitor (Atorvastatin) 20mg (batch number 004405K1) arrived on the market. Lipitor is Pfizer's prescription-only cholesterol-lowering medicine. Initial tests by the MHRA on the counterfeit material indicate that it does not pose an immediate risk to patients.

Pfizer has urged the British government and European authorities to commit to actions to safeguard the integrity of the medicines supply chain across Europe. It believes they should look at a standardised, European barcode system for medicines that would allow for their safe recall and identification.

It also wants greater resources committed to combating the involvement of organised crime in medicines counterfeiting and stricter penalties to those found guilty of counterfeiting medicines or knowingly supplying counterfeit medicines.

The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) said that the batch of counterfeit drugs appears to be an isolated incident but that it would back a further tightening of the supply system for medicines.

It said that counterfeiting of medicines in the UK is extremely rare, this being only the fourth such case in the past 10 years. However it plans to examine the system to see where it can be further tightened.

Dr Richard Barker, director general of the ABPI said: 'Two possible weak areas in the system are internet pharmacies, which often operate from centres outside the UK, and through parallel trading, where medicines are not only shunted backwards and forwards across Europe by the traders but are often opened up and repackaged.' He added, 'All medicines should reach the patient in the manufacturer's original packaging - product integrity must be maintained. The simpler the system, the less likely it is to provide opportunities for criminals.'