BfArM informs on further developments on stolen Italian drugs

The German Medicine Agency BfArM announced new developments on the investigations regarding the theft of medicines occurred in Italy at the beginning of 2014.  It is likely that also batches of pemetrexed, used in the treatment of lung cancer, and somatropin, used in the growth hormone therapy, were among the drugs stolen from an Italian hospital. At the moment no manipulation has been detected for these batches with the aim of counterfeiting. BfARM also indicated some possible ways to detect counterfeited medicines, such as batch number and expiry date on the vials not matching those on the carton, and clear manipulation of rubber stoppers, metal rings and closures. The German Agency is constantly in contact with EMA and the local authorities to collect any report on the traffic of counterfeited medicines.