Govt warns public over fake cancer medicine
By Kenneth Mwenda, December 31, 2025The Ministry of Health, through the Pharmacy and Poisons Board (PPB), has issued a public alert on falsified IBRANCE® (palbociclib) products. The alert names nine batches of the medicine, which have been confirmed or suspected as falsified in other countries. The PPB says these products are unsafe and pose a serious risk to public health.
IBRANCE ( palbociclib) is a prescription targeted therapy used to treat certain types of advanced or metastatic breast cancer.
The Pharmacy and Poisons Board regulates the pharmacy profession and ensures that all health products in Kenya are safe, effective, and of high quality. As part of its duties, the Board carries out post-marketing surveillance to monitor medicines available in the market.
During these activities, the PPB received a warning from the World Health Organization (WHO) about falsified IBRANCE batches.
“During the course of these surveillance activities, the Board received an alert from the World Health Organization (WHO) regarding falsified IBRANCE® (palbociclib),” the public alert issued on Wednesday, December 31, 2025, reads.
The confirmed falsified batch numbers are FS5173, GS4328, LV1850, and TS2190. The batch numbers considered suspicious and likely falsified are GK2981, GR6491, GT5817, HJ8710, and HJ8715. According to the alert, the falsified products claim to be manufactured by Pfizer, P.O. Box 29387, Mission, KS 66201, but they do not meet quality standards.
The falsified medicines show clear signs of tampering. Some labels contain spelling mistakes or poor-quality printing. The security foil on the bottles displays the Pfizer logo in black ink instead of the correct design. Capsules are either marked “PBC 125” in black ink or have no markings at all. The colour of the capsules may also be unusual, including bright orange, which is not consistent with authentic IBRANCE.
Laboratory testing has confirmed that these falsified batches contain no active pharmaceutical ingredient. This makes them ineffective and potentially dangerous to patients. Using these products can put patients’ health at serious risk.
Vigilance urged over fakes
The PPB emphasised that, so far, it has not detected any of these falsified batches within the Kenyan market. The alert is issued as a precaution to raise awareness, prevent entry of the products into the local supply chain, and safeguard public health.
The Board has called on procurement agencies, hospitals, distributors, pharmacists, pharmaceutical technologists, and the public to remain vigilant. Anyone who comes across the falsified batches should report them immediately.
The Board also reminded all stakeholders to source medicines only from licensed manufacturers, importers, distributors, and retailers. Procuring from unlicensed sources is illegal and endangers patients.
The Pharmacy and Poisons Board has stated that it will take firm regulatory and legal action against anyone involved in the distribution of falsified health products. The Board works closely with other government investigative agencies to prevent such products from reaching patients.