Ministry of Health traces the origin of fake drug NEXIUM® 40mg

Specifically, the Hanoi Center for Drug, Cosmetic and Food Testing discovered that a sample of NEXIUM® 40mg did not meet the quality requirements for the quantitative index of Esomeprazole.

According to the reference document, the basic standard of Nexium tablets, registration number: VN-19782-16 of the manufacturer Astra Zeneca, the Esomeprazole content of the above drug sample is only 6.91mg/tablet (equivalent to 17.27% of the content stated on the label).

Hanoi Center for Drug, Cosmetic and Food Testing announced a sample of substandard drugs (Screenshot).

Product information on the label: NEXIUM® 40mg Enterik Kapli Pellet Tablet (Esomeprazole), batch number: 23H420, Expiry date: 09.2027. The above drug sample does not have information about the circulation registration number and/or import license number, manufacturing facility, and importing facility on the label.

Drug samples were taken at Duc Anh Pharmacy, a subsidiary of Duc Anh Pharmaceutical and Medical Equipment Company Limited (Dong Da, Hanoi).

The Drug Administration of Vietnam requested the Hanoi Department of Health to urgently report to Steering Committee 389 and coordinate with the police, market management agencies, local Steering Committee 389 and relevant authorities to conduct an inspection of Duc Anh Pharmacy.

At the same time, trace the origin of the product batch with the information printed on the label as above; report the results of inspection, examination and handling to the Department of Drug Administration before May 27.

The Department also requested the health departments of provinces and cities to inform drug trading and usage establishments and people not to buy/sell or use the above-mentioned fake NEXIUM® 40mg Enterik Kapli Pellet Tablet (Esomeprazole); only buy and sell drugs at legal pharmaceutical businesses; do not buy/sell drugs of unknown origin.

Facilities need to promptly report any suspicious signs of production and trading of counterfeit drugs or drugs of unknown origin to health authorities and relevant authorities.

Previously, on February 24, 2023, the Drug Administration of Vietnam also announced the discovery of a number of suspected counterfeit drug batches, including Nexium 40mg, Enterik Kapli Pellet Tablet, AstraZeneca, Batch number: 21H979, each box has 4 blisters, each blister contains 7 tablets, which are drugs not allowed to circulate and are suspected to be counterfeit drugs.

NEXIUM 40mg is a fairly popular drug on the market, indicated for the treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and some other conditions such as stomach ulcers, duodenal ulcers...

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/suc-khoe/bo-y-te-truy-nguon-goc-thuoc-gia-nexium-40mg-20250523144703453.htm