#StopFakeMeds #ThinkSmart
A system of fake medicines has existed in Lebanon for over 50 years and has faced several scandals. The recent combination of citizen pressure, judicial bravery, mobilization of the health sector, and political will is a source of hope.
In June 2025, following seizures, raids, and arrests, a network of fake anticancer medicines traffickers was uncovered in Lebanon. Those responsible included the brother of a former Minister of Finance and his ex-wife, the head of an import company, pharmaceutical officials, and an officer of the General Security. They had set up a system for transporting, distributing, and selling counterfeit versions of IMFINZI (durvalumab), containing no active ingredient, as well as other types of fake medicines, within both the legal and informal pharmaceutical distribution chains of the country.
Trigger: reports from patients and citizens about the ineffectiveness of treatments and irregularities led the acting Public Prosecutor at the Financial Prosecutor’s Office, Dora El-Khazen, to take up the case. Patients’ associations and medical collectives strengthened their mobilization.
Many victims have spoken out, such as the testimony of Fadia Makawi*, barely 30 years old, suffering from breast cancer. She paid 900 USD for an anticancer medication received from Turkey, which turned out to be fake; she nearly died during its administration.
Context: in 2022, Lebanese pharmacies began to run out of anticancer and chronic disease medicines, shifting supply to unregulated systems.
In June 2025, citizen pressure pushed Parliament to urgently convene the Health Committee.
Finding: fake medicines account for up to one-third of the local market, representing between 150 and 200 million USD per year.
Criminal methods: the fake products were flown into Lebanon via Beirut through an import company, then stored in a warehouse. Part of the fake products was substituted to the genuine anticancer medicines in Ministry of Health warehouses, then distributed into the official pharmaceutical system, while the other part was sold on informal markets. The genuine medicines are believed to have been resold to unauthorized third parties. Profits to date are estimated at between 30 and 40 million USD.
Confirmation of fake: AstraZeneca, manufacturer of the genuine products, confirmed that the samples were fake: no active ingredient, visual anomalies on the packaging and presentation, and/or unrecognized batch numbers.
The WHO issued two alerts concerning batches of fake IMFINZI circulating in the unregulated supply chain in Armenia, Lebanon, and Turkey in December 2024; and in Iran and Turkey in May 2025.
Sources of the fake products still to be identified: whether manufactured or repackaged in clandestine laboratories along the Turkish-Syrian border, industrially produced in factories in Southeast or West Asia, or originating from other channels, the fake products were highly sophisticated and sold at exorbitant prices.
Our individual action can have a collective impact.
