Combating Counterfeit Medicine

Pfizer’s Role In Combatting Fake Medicine

According to the Pharmaceutical Security Institute, officials uncovered 4,344 incidents of counterfeiting, illegal diversion and theft of pharmaceuticals in 137 countries in 2020. The crimes involved more than 2,451 different medicines across every therapeutic category. The PSI documented 2,574 arrests for pharmaceutical crime in 2020, the largest number of arrests achieved in 19 years of data. 

To assist law enforcement agencies to prevent counterfeit Pfizer medicines from reaching patients, Pfizer Global Security have provided product training to authorities from 164 countries.

Interpol Operation Pangea XV in 2022 involved police, customs and health regulatory authorities from 94 countries. It resulted in $11m in illicit medicines seized, 200 search warrants issued and more than 4,000 web links including websites and online marketplaces containing adverts for illicit products being closed or removed.

Fight the fakes

Fight the Fakes is a campaign that aims to raise awareness about the dangers of fake medicines. The campaign gives a voice to those who have been personally impacted and shares the stories of those working to put a stop to this threat to public health. It seeks to build a global movement of organizations and individuals who will shine light on the negative impact that fake medicines have on people around the globe and to reduce the negative consequences on individuals worldwide.

As part of this effort, Fight the Fakes is collecting and sharing the stories of those who are impacted by fake medicines and are speaking up. The website also serves as a resource for organizations and individuals who are looking to support this effort by outlining opportunities for action and sharing what others are doing to fight fake medicines.

To share your story or learn more, please visit: http://www.fightthefakes.org/

The Startling Reality

Counterfeit medicine is fake medicine, and they are a threat to the health and safety of patients around the world.

Counterfeit medicines are dangerous by their very nature – they are not produced under safe manufacturing conditions and they are not inspected by regulatory authorities. It is impossible to know what ingredients counterfeit medicines contain. Sophisticated counterfeiters will put some of the active ingredient in the fake medicine and make it look very similar to the real medicine.

The primary danger in taking a counterfeit medicine is that you are putting something into your body that not only may not help your current condition, but more alarmingly could result in harmful effects to your overall health. 

No country or product is immune to the threat of counterfeit. Even in countries generally considered "safe," such as Canada, the United States, and many in the European Union, counterfeit medicines have entered the supply chain. The types of counterfeit medicines offered for sale without a prescription include, but are not limited to, lifesaving medicines such as those to treat cancer, bacterial infection antibiotics, diabetes, and anti-inflammatory medicines.

Reputable online pharmacies will ask for a prescription issued by a relevant healthcare professional and provide adequate warnings about the possible side effects of the drug.  

Pfizer’s Anti-Counterfeiting Program

It is precisely because of the threat that counterfeit medicines pose to patients that Pfizer has implemented an aggressive and focused campaign to detect, disrupt and deter major manufacturers and distributors of counterfeit Pfizer medicines.

We work with wholesalers, pharmacies, customs offices, and law enforcement agencies worldwide to increase inspection coverage, monitor distribution channels, and improve surveillance of distributors and re-packagers. Most significantly, we conduct and manage pro-active investigations and refer the cases we develop to enforcement authorities. Our investigations are initiated in response to “leads” from a variety of sources, including complaints from patients and healthcare professionals, observations by members of our sales force, information concerning changes in sales volume and patterns from confidential informants and intelligence from enforcement authorities. 

Pfizer's Efforts to Address Fraud

Today, fraud permeates every aspect of our lives.  From a pharmaceutical perspective it can have a significant impact on the ability of patients to access safe and affordable drugs.

Medicine Safety

Our commitment to medicine safety begins in the research laboratory and continues as long as the medicine is prescribed to patients anywhere in the world.