APRIL 2007
A counterfeit cure
AstraZeneca is using cutting-edge technology in a bid to keep counterfeits out of the supply chain. Emma Barraclough finds out how its new system will work
Yectafer is an iron solution manufactured by AstraZeneca which is used to treat anaemia, a condition particularly common among pregnant women. But when an expectant mother in Argentina died of liver failure after being injected with the drug, doctors became alarmed. One of them sent a sample of the medicine to the pharmaceutical company for analysis. They carried out tests and concluded it was fake. The company says it is uncertain how many people died from the batch of counterfeit medicine because doctors may not always suspect that fake drugs were involved.
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