The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has issued an urgent warning about a suspected counterfeit cancer drug, Phesgo 600mg/600mg/10ml injection, marked with batch number C5290S20. The alert followed a report from a Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) doctor, who flagged the product after a patient brought it in.
Investigations revealed discrepancies, including a non-existent batch number, inaccurate packaging language, missing tamper-evidence features, and mismatched labels compared to genuine products. The drug’s manufacturer, Roche, confirmed its counterfeit status after examining images of the suspect product, which closely resembled another flagged batch, C3809C51.
NAFDAC emphasized the severe health risks of counterfeit drugs, warning that such products are unsafe and ineffective. The agency advised healthcare providers and consumers to procure medications only from authorized sources and thoroughly verify their authenticity.
Officials have been instructed to launch surveillance operations to remove the counterfeit drug from the market. NAFDAC called on the public to report suspected fake products or adverse reactions through its offices, hotline (0800-162-3322), email (sf.alert@nafdac.gov.ng), the Med-Safety app, or its official website.
