Scientists trace fake anti-malaria pills to dealer in southern China
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Scientists and police have struck back against the global menace of
counterfeit drugs in a unique collaboration that has led to the
seizure of hundreds of thousands of fake anti-malaria tablets and the
arrest of a key dealer in southern China.
In a stunning piece of forensic detective work, scientists who
analysed pollen grains and minerals in the fake drugs were able to
trace their origin to the Yunnan province of southern China, where
almost a half of all blister packs of the antimalarial drug
artesunate are thought to be fake.
The arrested dealer is alleged to have traded 240 000 blister packs
of fake artesunate, enough to "treat" almost 250 000 adults with a
medicine that has no effect on the potentially fatal disease. Chinese
authorities seized 24 000 of the blister packs but the remainder are
thought to have been sold on the border between Yunnan province and
Burma [Myanmar].
Details of the collaboration, called Operation Jupiter, are published
for the 1st time today [13 Feb 2008] in the online journal of the
Public Library of Science, PLoS Medicine [The research article on
PLoS Medicine available at:
<http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.0050032>].
The investigation was co-ordinated by Interpol with the World Health
Organisation and scientists from the Wellcome Trust SE Asian Tropical
Research Programme at the University of Oxford.
The WHO estimates that fake drugs account for more than 10 percent of
the global medicines market but pharmaceutical companies are often
reluctant to admit they have fallen victim to the counterfeiters for
fear of damaging sales of the genuine product.
Paul Newton, who led the research, said fake anti-malarial drugs were
an increasing problem, especially in South-east Asia and Africa.
Malaria is widespread in Burma [Myanmar], Laos, Cambodia and Viet Nam
and up to half of all artesunate tablets in these regions are thought
to be counterfeit.
Dr Newton said: "Artesunate... is vital for malaria treatment and is
one of the most effective weapons we have against this terrible
scourge. Those who make fake anti-malarials have killed with
impunity, directly through the criminal production of a medicine
lacking active ingredients and by encouraging drug resistance to
spread. If malaria becomes resistant to artesunate the effect on
public health in the tropics will be catastrophic."
Fear about growing drug resistance have been raised because some fake
drugs seized in Operation Jupiter turned out to include dangerously
small quantities of artesunate, probably in an attempt to foil
screening tests implemented as quality checks. The doses included
were too low to tackle the disease but high enough to contribute to
the malaria parasites acquiring resistance to the drugs.
Most of the seized drugs contained no artesunate or a wide range of
potentially toxic ingredients. The scientists who analysed the drugs
used a sophisticated technique called forensic palynology to study
pollen contamination in the samples, from which they were able to
track the likely location of manufacture.
The pollen evidence suggested at least some of the counterfeit
artesunate came from southern China and this was backed up by
examination of the mineral, calcite, also found in some samples.
Scientists from 5 laboratories were involved in analysing the fake
drugs and their packaging.
Dr. Newton said the success of Operation Jupiter proved it was
possible to help countries facing a major threat from counterfeit
drugs. "Criminal investigations and legal action are important in
disrupting and inhibiting the trade in fake medicines, but to be
effective these will require financial support and resources," he
said. "Forensic tools may make it easier to identify the fake drugs
and allow over-stretched police forces to focus on objective leads,
greatly increasing the risks to counterfeiters of being caught."
"But there are very few laboratories with the resources to perform
detailed forensic chemistry or pollen analysis of fakes, particularly
in the countries where they are most needed."
Full story
