Latest news with #Cetuximab
Hindustan Times
12 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
Eight held in Delhi for selling fake cancer drugs sourced from abroad
Eight men working as chemists and medical representatives across Delhi were arrested for allegedly running a racket involving counterfeit, unauthorised, or spurious anti-cancer drugs sourced from countries such as Egypt, Turkey, and others in Asia, police said on Thursday. Fake medicines worth crores were also seized. Among the drugs recovered were high-value cancer treatments like Opdivo, Pembrolizumab, Cetuximab, Lenvatinib, and seven other critical injections and capsules. Police said the gang was allegedly led by 41-year-old Naveen Arya — a PhD scholar and law graduate — who had operated a shop in Chandni Chowk's Bhagirath Palace for over four years. Arya and his wife are absconding, while his associates have been arrested. Arya is a repeat offender, police said. In April 2024, he was arrested along with three others, including a Syrian national, for illegally importing and exporting cancer drugs and the diabetes drug Ozempic. Though sent to jail, he was granted bail in August last year. 'After his release, Arya resumed operations but did not use his shop this time,' said DCP (Crime) Vikram Singh. 'Instead, he and his associates trawled B2B platforms where patients and caregivers seek medicines, posing as genuine sellers and luring them with prices far below market rate.' Medicines were delivered either through couriers or by hand via Arya's network. The crackdown followed a tip-off received last week by a team led by inspector Ashish Sharma and ACP Yashpal Singh. Raids were conducted at shops in Laxmi Nagar, Bhagirath Palace, and Buddh Vihar. Among those arrested were Neeraj Kumar and Anil Kumar, partners in a pharma firm in Laxmi Nagar; Dhanesh Sharma (23) and Dheeraj Kumar, who worked as agents in Buddh Vihar; and Rohit Bhati and Jyoti Grover from Bhagirath Palace. On Thursday, two more — Naveen Saini and Krishna Kumar — were arrested for delivering medicines on Arya's behalf. Investigators said the medicines, typically priced between ₹1 lakh and ₹3 lakh, were sold for ₹30,000 to ₹50,000. Most were unregistered, unauthorized, or labelled 'Not for Sale in India.' 'They mainly targeted young buyers searching online for discounted medicines for themselves or their parents. Most victims are from Delhi-NCR, though we've also traced cases in Mumbai,' said an investigator. Searches are ongoing for Arya and his wife, who fled their residence in Delhi, police said.
Indian Express
2 days ago
- Indian Express
Spurious cancer drug racket busted, 6 arrested in 3 raids: Delhi Police
The Delhi Police Crime Branch busted a well-organised racket that allegedly sold spurious, unauthorised, and unregistered cancer drugs to unsuspecting patients. Six people were arrested in three simultaneous raids — at Laxmi Nagar, Budh Vihar and Chandni Chowk — and counterfeit medication worth several lakhs was seized, police said Wednesday. Police said the accused targeted cancer patients via social media groups, claiming to offer expensive drugs at discounted rates. In Laxmi Nagar, Neeraj Kumar (23) and Anil Kumar (30) from a pharmaceutical firm were arrested with five counterfeit Opdivo injections lacking importer details. In Budh Vihar, police said Dhanesh Sharma (23) and Dheeraj Kumar were found with three boxes of Cetuximab, six Opdivo injections, and three boxes of Lenvatinib. In Chandni Chowk's Bhag-irath Palace, Rohit Bhatti (24) and Jyoti Grover (52) were arrested with a large haul of spurious medicines. Drug inspectors from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation confirmed these drugs were unauthorised for sale in India. 'During the inquiry, it was found that the owner of a shop (in Chandni Chowk), Naveen Arya, is the kingpin of the racket. He remained behind bars for about three months in a similar case. After he got out on bail, he activated this syndicate, as the profit margin is very high. The drugs, valued at several lakhs of rupees, were sealed as evidence. The accused were selling these counterfeit medications at discounted rates, exploiting vulnerable cancer patients and endangering their lives,' said DCP (Crime Branch) Vikram Singh. Arya is yet to be arrested. Police said their investigation revealed that the syndicate sourced the counterfeit drugs at low prices from illicit suppliers and sold them to unsuspecting patients at rates between Rs 50,000 to Rs 70,000 — far below the market value of Rs 1.5 to Rs 2 lakh. The accused allegedly admitted to exploiting desperate patients by offering counterfeit drugs marked as 'Not for Sale in India', said police. Technical analysis of seized mobile phones showed the accused were connected to multiple victims through social media groups, where patients often posted appeals for affordable medication. The Crime Branch is working to identify and contact affected victims, said police. A total of 66 spurious drug items were seized. A case has been registered under sections 276 (adulteration of drugs), 277 (sale of adulterated drugs), 278 (sale of drug as a different drug or preparation), 318(4) (cheating), 61(2) (criminal conspiracy), and 3(5) (common intent) of the BNS, police said.
Iraqi News
3 days ago
- Health
- Iraqi News
Combination therapy extends survival in advanced skin cancer, trial finds
In patients with an advanced type of skin cancer called cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC), those who received the combination of the immunotherapy drug avelumab and targeted agent cetuximab had almost four times longer median progression-free survival compared to patients who received avelumab alone, according to the results of a phase 2 trial presented today at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting and concurrently published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. "It is both an honor and humbling to develop clinical trials that can be potential options for our patients," said lead author and study chair for the trial, Dan Zandberg, M.D., associate professor of medicine at the University of Pittsburgh and medical oncology co-leader of the head and neck cancer program at UPMC Hillman Cancer Center. "My hope is that the insights we made with this trial will lead to additional studies that can ultimately bring a new immunotherapy-based combination into standard of care for patients with advanced cSCC." cSCC is a common type of skin cancer with about 1.8 million cases diagnosed in the U.S. each year. About 95% of cSCCs are detected early and can be treated with minor surgery. But in rare cases, patients will go on to develop advanced cSCC, which includes locally advanced tumors that cannot be surgically removed and metastatic disease. At this point, the prognosis is poor and treatment is focused on extending survival, not cure. Zandberg developed the Alliance A091802 (NCT03944941) phase 2 trial in collaboration with the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology through the National Cancer Institute's (NCI) National Clinical Trials Network. This trial, which was open nationwide, included 57 patients with advanced cSCC. UPMC Hillman was the leading site for patient recruitment, with some of those patients recruited and treated at its network of more than 70 community cancer centers. Twenty-nine patients received avelumab and cetuximab and 28 received avelumab alone. Because the trial had a crossover design, nine patients in the avelumab group whose cancer progressed switched to the combination group. Avelumab is an immune checkpoint inhibitor drug that targets a protein found on cancer cells called PD-L1. When PD-L1 binds to a receptor on T cells called PD-1, it acts like a brake, slowing down the cancer-killing activity of T cells. Avelumab and other anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapies release those brakes. Cetuximab is a monoclonal antibody that targets EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor), a protein that plays a critical role in tumor cell growth, proliferation and survival and which is often found in high levels on cSCC cells. It activates natural killer cells, which help fight tumors, and can also activate dendritic cells, which can then stimulate T cells. Previous research done at UPMC Hillman by Robert Ferris, M.D., Ph.D. and his lab helped reveal cetuximab's effect on the immune system. "The rationale for the combination is that avelumab and other anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapies have been shown to take the foot off the brake of the immune system, while cetuximab is pressing on the gas pedal—trying to work together to make the immune system go faster and attack the tumor," said Zandberg. "What's exciting is that in this trial the efficacy of the combination suggests that the two drugs were synergistic, rather than just additive." The study showed that the primary endpoint of progression-free survival was significantly higher in patients who received avelumab plus cetuximab with a median of 11 months compared to just 3 months in patients who received avelumab alone. Even though avelumab and cetuximab led to an almost quadrupling of median progression-free survival compared to avelumab alone, the trial does not support this combination as a standard treatment for patients. That's because since the trial was launched, two other anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapies—cemiplimab and pembrolizumab—have been approved and had higher efficacy than avelumab in trials in patients with cSCC. However, the trial represents the first completed prospective randomized comparison of cetuximab plus blockade of the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway versus blockade of that pathway alone in cSCC or head and neck cancer, where this combination has also shown promise. The trial provides valuable information for future trials. "These findings highlight the potential benefits of combining cetuximab with an anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapy and points to the importance of additional clinical trials combining either standard of care pembrolizumab or cemiplimab with cetuximab as a potential way to improve patient outcomes in advanced cSCC," said Zandberg. Notably, patients in the crossover arm had a similar progression-free survival to those who received the combination from the start. Currently, if a patient fails immunotherapy with pembrolizumab or cemiplimab, they switch to cetuximab or chemotherapy. But this trial suggests that continuing immunotherapy and adding cetuximab could be more beneficial.
