An antimalarial drug called Duo-Cotecxin being sold in the Kenyan market has caused panic among the medical field after being declared fake.
Details emerged that the drug failed a laboratory quality test and it was recalled from the Kenyan market over safety concerns.
The director of inspection, surveillance and enforcement at the Pharmacy and Poisons Board, Dr Jacinta Wasike told on Thursday that the Board has advised against further importation of the drug.
Wasike maintained that the Board acted on an alert that revealed that the drug which is widely sold across the country, failed an assay test.
[caption caption="Dr Jacinta Wasike from the Pharmacy and Poisons Board (centre) with other officials"]
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She further noted that Duo-Cotecxin was declared substandard, quarantined and an order issued to withdraw it from pharmacy shelves in Kenya with immediate effect.
“There was this particular batch that raised questions and immediately we placed a quarantine and recalled all the drugs,” Dr Wasike stated.
The drug samples that were purchased from a pharmacy outlet in Nairobi are alleged to have been manufactured by Chinese firm Zhejiang Holley Nanhu Pharmaceutical co.
The pharmaceutical regulator in 2017 set up a specialised laboratory to keep an eye on the safety and quality of medicines already approved for sale in the country.
The lab, which is based at PPB’s headquarters in Nairobi, conducts tests on both locally-manufactured and imported drugs and pharmaceutical products to determine if they are compilable with required standards.
[caption caption="Fake Malaria Drugs"]
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Additionally, the lab aimed at reducing costs and time for post-market surveillance of pharmaceutical products.
