LITTLE PROGRESS ON LEBANESE COUNTERFEITING PROBLEM

Drug counterfeiting remains a serious problem in Lebanon, with the country a manufacturing and transit site for international counterfeiters. Despite the recent formation of a new government, there is little indication that this situation is likely to change in the short term.

Furthermore, according to the research-based industry, the government continues to register unauthorised copies. As the threat of counterfeit and smuggled drugs spreads in the country, and on the persistent advice of foreign ambassadors, several members of the country's pharmaceutical industry have belatedly suggested measures to control the illegal selling of detrimental medical products to the public.

A number of independent agencies have also urged the Lebanese government to take serious measures to solve the issue of counterfeited drugs and to create clear laws to protect the pharmaceutical companies. Recent lobbying over the issue has also come from the international manufacturing sector. The industry has started a campaign to control the spread of counterfeit drugs, with certain pharmacies and distributors being raided, their products seized and those responsible indicted.

Commenting earlier in the year, the area director for Janssen-Cilag said that out of 3,400 drugs available in the market, 400 are counterfeit products. Some counterfeit products deprive the original products of 70-80% in sales, while others affect about 30% of sales. US drug major Pfizer is another main target for copiers, with counterfeit drugs accounting for 90% of sales of the anti-impotence treatment Viagra in Lebanon.