PSM2012: Opening Remarks and Introductions
Partnership for Safe Medicines Executive Director Scott LaGanga welcomed participants to the third annual Interchange, where key stakeholders discuss and begin to solve the global problem of pharmaceutical counterfeiting.
Said LaGanga, "We believe that by working together, we can come one step closer to protecting the pharmaceutical supply chain from dangerous counterfeit drugs."
Following LaGanga, Dr. Marv Shepherd, Director of the
Center for Pharmacoeconomic Studies at the University of Texas at Austin’s
College of Pharmacy and chairman of the Partnership for Safe
Medicines spoke. He began by discussing the recent counterfeit drug cases of the past year.
Said Dr. Shepherd, "Earlier this year, counterfeit versions of two
of Roche’s cancer therapies, Avastin and Altuzan, were found in the United
Kingdom and the United States and sold by trusted suppliers, such as Quality
Special Products, Richards Pharma, Warwick Healthcare Solutions and Ban Dune
Marketing."
"In May, the FDA announced counterfeit versions
of the popular ADHD drug Adderall were being sold with the wrong active
ingredients, rendering them ineffective at best, and dangerous at worst."
Shepherd extolled fellow organizations like the Global Intellectual Property Center for educating consumers about the dangers of counterfeit drugs and introduced the opening speaker, Scott T. Williams from the Men's Health Network.