The Federal Commission for the Protection against Health Risks (Cofepris) has launched a health alert on counterfeiting and illegal marketing of five oncology drugs, which are crucial for the treatment of prostate, colorectal and breast cancers. This situation represents a serious risk to the health of patients who depend on these treatments for their survival and well-being.
Between the affected medications are found Erbitux (cetuximab) 5 mg/mL, batch H88JQ2 with an expiration date of December 2025. Merck Biopharma Distribution, which has the health registration of the product, has confirmed that this batch is completely unrelated to its production, also highlighting that the packaging presents texts in English and serious inconsistencies in their labeling.
Another alarming case is that of Erleada (apalutamide) 60 mg, lot 22KG640 with expiration in February 2024. This medication was illegally introduced into Mexico, although it was originally intended for the Colombian market.
Janssen-Cilag, the owner of the registry, has notified Cofepris about this diversion, indicating that the product even has an unauthorized QR code and a false health registration.
Furthermore, it has been detected counterfeit Xeloda (capecitabine) 500 mg, batch .
The list of compromised products continues with Ramiven (abemaciclib) of 150 mg, batch D484125 and expiration in October 2024, which was illegally introduced from the Indian market.
Finally, Cofepris has warned about the commercialization of Phoxelon 500 (cyclophosphamide) Injection IP 500 mg, produced by Celon Laboratories PVT. LTD.
This product is sold without proper health registration in Mexico, which implies that it has not been evaluated by local health authorities in terms of safety, quality and effectiveness.
Faced with this serious situation, Cofepris has called on the population to avoid purchasing these products, given that their origin and manufacturing conditions are unknown, putting the health of consumers at risk.
The commission has urged those who have information about the illegal sale of these or other medications to file health complaints through the official channels available in the 32 states of the Republic.
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