Dive Brief:
- Sabahaddin Akman, owner of Turkey-based Ozay Pharmaceuticals, is going to prison for 30 months for smuggling fake cancer drugs into the U.S.
- In addition to serving jail time for the crime, which was committed in 2012, Akmin is also being fined $150,000.
- The drug in question is Altuzan (bevacizumab), the Turkish version of Roche's Avastin, which is indicated for treatment of various types of cancer, mainly in combination with other oncologics.
Dive Insight:
The crime committed by Akman had many victims and potential victims, including not only the patients who may have been treated with the illegally imported Altuzan, which lacked an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API), but also pharmaceutical companies that manufacture bevacizumab and the U.S. FDA.
Unfortunately, counterfeit Altuzan entered the U.S. supply chain in 2012 and its not clear which patients were affected. Recently, Akman's business partner, Ozkan Semizoglu, received 27 months in prison for his role in this crime.