Tainted HIV drug to be recalled
One day after its anti-HIV drug Viracept was recalled from the European market by Europe's drug regulator after fears of contamination, the Swiss drug firm Roche yesterday recalled the drug from the Thai market.
Virawan Taengkaew, deputy secretary general of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), yesterday said Roche had reported the recall of its drug in Europe and offered to pull the drugs from all hospitals here.
On Wednesday the European Medicines Agency pulled all Viracept (nelfinavir) after finding "chemical impurity" in some batches of the drug. The contamination is said to be carcinogenic.
Virawan said the recall would not effect the treatment of Aids patients in Thailand as not many sufferers had received the drug. She said last year's data showed that only 22 hospitals had prescribed Viracept to 190 HIV-infected people. This year only 200,000 tablets had been prescribed to 144 HIV-infected people.
"Almost all HIV-infected people have been prescribed GPO-Vir, an Aids treatment manufactured by the GPO," she said. However, she said those who took Viracept could ask for compensation if it is proven they have been harmed by the contamination.
Dr Vinai Swadisorn, deputy secretary-general of the National Health Security Office, yesterday confirmed the drug had not been dispensed under the national health scheme.
Duangkamon Sajirawattanakul
The Nation
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