Website pharmacies providing unbelievably cheap drugs, capsules of traditional Chinese medicines containing the active component of Viagra to improve men's sexual ability - these are some of the new tricks used by counterfeit drugmakers.

The scale of counterfeit drug-making is a worsening crisis threatening the whole world. According to a report issued by the World Health Organization last November, up to 25 per cent of medicines consumed in developing nations are estimated to be counterfeit or substandard.

"Internet crime or 'cyber crime' is a new movement. It can be practised by criminal organizations anywhere in the world," said R. John Theriault, vice-president of Pfizer's Global Security and a former FBI agent.

Consumers purchasing drugs directly from websites have no idea of how or where the counterfeit drugs they are buying were manufactured.

Counterfeit drugs are more harmful than other phoney products because they either contain no active components as required or, in some cases, they may even contain substances harmful to human health.

But attracted by the huge potential profits, counterfeit drug manufacturers and distributors take the risk. The US Food and Drug Administration has estimated that fake drugs alone comprise more than 10 per cent of the global medicines market and generate annual sales of more than US$32 billion.

Joint forces

The Shanghai Municipal Food and Drug Administration (SMFDA) has reached a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Pfizer Inc, the US-based world's biggest pharmaceutical company to more effectively detect and deter the presence of counterfeit drugs in Shanghai and its surrounding region.

The MoU is the nation's first strategic anti-counterfeit co-operation agreement between local government and a private company.

"To ensure the public has safe drugs is our top task but SMFDA is still technically weak in clamping down on counterfeit drugs with such tools as chemical analysis. The partnership with Pfizer is strategic because it has abundant international experience and advanced techniques in anti-counterfeiting," said Wang Longxing, director of SMFDA.

He added that anti-counterfeiting also expressed the government's commitment to creating a better environment for foreign investors by clamping down on violations of intellectual property rights.

Anti-counterfeiting is also a big concern for Pfizer that has found counterfeit drugs sold in 57 countries. "The anti-counterfeiting campaign is a long-term tough task and an international problem too. Pfizer has close co-operation with agencies worldwide but it's the first time it has co-operated with a government agency," Theriault said.

He added that the most challenging factor in China was to ensure the enforcement of anti-counterfeiting regulations from the central government down.

According the MoU, the two parties will share first-hand information concerning counterfeit Pfizer products. Meanwhile, Pfizer will provide more technical support and help train SMFDA investigators and executives to enhance detection skills.

Since last August, China has set up a nationwide system for regular communication with foreign invested companies and obtain suggestions on how to fight counterfeit products and protect intellectual property.

(Shanghai Star  May 25, 2004)