Indian national charged with selling counterfeit drugs in US

Washington: A US court on Thursday charged Sanjay Kumar from Bihar with selling and shipping tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of counterfeit oncology pharmaceuticals into the country.

According to court documents, Sanjay Kumar, 43, and his co-conspirators allegedly arranged for the sale and shipment of fake, counterfeit versions of oncology pharmaceuticals, including Keytruda, to individuals in the United States.

Genuine Keytruda is a cancer immunotherapy that is approved in the United States for 19 different indications, including to treat certain types of melanoma, lung cancer, head and neck cancer, Hodgkin lymphoma, gastric cancer, cervical cancer, and breast cancer.

Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC, formerly known as Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp., has the exclusive right to authorize the manufacture of Keytruda for introduction into interstate commerce.

Kumar was arrested on June 26 in Houston after travelling to the United States to conduct further negotiations aimed at expanding his business selling fake Keytruda in the US market, a media release said.

He is charged with one count of conspiracy to traffic in counterfeit drugs and four counts of trafficking in counterfeit drugs. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on each count.