Drugstore raids net P15-M fake pain killers

The Philippine National Police–Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) and a Manila court sheriff recently seized counterfeit medicines in a series of raids in Cainta, Rizal, and in Isabela province.

The operations stemmed from a complaint for patent infringement filed by the pharmaceutical firm MSD, the sole developer and distributor of the anti-inflammatory drug Etoricoxib in the Philippines.

A statement from the company said the authorities confiscated boxes of the Torico and Xibra brands of the drug with a total estimated value of P15 million.

The raids were conducted June 13 to 16 on the Mark Ericson and Ferma drugstores in Isabela and Ellebasy in Cainta, based on a writ of search and seizure issued by Judge Lyliha L. Abella-Aquino of Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 24.

Etoricoxib, a product of MSD (Merck & Co. Inc. in the US and Canada), is protected under Philippine Patent No. 1-1997-57352, which is in force until 2022.

The company is represented in the complaint by Sapalo Velez Bundang & Bulilan Law Offices and IProbe investigators.

The owners and employees of the three drugstores are facing charges for violation of the Intellectual Property Code, the firm said.