By Jared S. Hopkins and José de Córdoba
Pfizer Inc. says it has identified in Mexico and Poland the
first confirmed instances of counterfeit versions of the Covid-19
vaccine it developed with BioNTech SE, the latest attempt by
criminals trying to exploit the world-wide vaccination
campaign.
Vials seized by authorities in separate investigations were
tested by the company and confirmed to contain bogus vaccine. The
vials recovered in Mexico also had fraudulent labeling, while a
substance inside vials in Poland was likely an antiwrinkle
treatment, Pfizer said.
About 80 people at a clinic in Mexico received a fake vaccine
going for about $1,000 a dose, though they don't appear to have
been physically harmed. The vials, found in beach-style beer
coolers, had different lot numbers than those sent to the state,
and a wrong expiration date, said Dr. Manuel de la O Cavazos, the
health secretary of Nuevo León state.
Polish authorities said no one there had received the
counterfeit vaccine, which was seized at a man's apartment.
The findings are the latest in an effort between law enforcement
and drugmakers such as Pfizer, Moderna Inc. and Johnson &
Johnson to stem criminal activity related to the Covid-19 vaccines.
The global rollout of shots has provided criminals a fresh
opportunity to take advantage of unsuspecting people.
"Everybody on the planet needs it. Many are desperate for it,"
said Lev Kubiak, Pfizer's world head of security. "We have a very
limited supply, a supply that will increase as we ramp up and other
companies enter the vaccine space. In the interim, there is a
perfect opportunity for criminals."
The U.S., Mexico and other countries have seized and taken down
dozens of websites fraudulently claiming to sell shots or an
affiliation with vaccine makers such as Moderna and Pfizer,
according to government officials and records. The fake company
look-alike websites appeared to be seeking consumers' personal
information to be used in identity-fraud schemes, government and
industry officials say.
Fake shots for the pandemic can be easy to distinguish from real
ones, experts say, because legitimate ones can only be found for
now sold to governments, making any shots sold on the internet
counterfeit and potentially harmful.
Police in China and South Africa last month seized thousands of
doses of counterfeit Covid-19 vaccines in warehouses and
manufacturing plants, arresting dozens of people, according to the
international police agency Interpol. Mexico also is investigating
a shipment of some 6,000 doses of purported Sputnik vaccine from
Russia, which were seized from a private plane headed to Honduras
in March.
The Russia Direct Investment Fund, which leads efforts to market
the vaccine internationally, said an analysis of photographs of the
seized batch "suggests that it is a fake." The Mexican Attorney
General's Office said it was investigating the matter and declined
to comment further. Authorities haven't determined whether the
vaccines are genuine.
For months, agents from the National Intellectual Property
Rights Coordination Center, an investigative arm of the U.S.
Department of Homeland Security, have been investigating fraud
related to the Covid-19 pandemic globally, recovering $48 million
worth of phony masks, personal protective equipment and other
products. Last fall, investigators shifted their focus to include
Covid-19 vaccines that were nearing potential clearance by
regulators, beginning with online scams. They have removed 30
websites and seized 74 web domains, according to IPR officials.
So far, no counterfeit vaccines have been discovered in the
U.S., according to the DHS. But limited supply of Covid-19 shots
and their high demand can steer people to seek vaccinations outside
official channels, particularly in countries such as Mexico and
Brazil, where Covid-19 cases are high and there is a history of
counterfeiting prescription drugs, industry and security experts
said.
"Whenever you see this mismatch between demand and supply in
certain areas, there are people who are willing to fill that
difference with counterfeits," said Tony Pelli, a consultant with
BSI Group who focuses on drug security. "For new drugs, it's
usually just a matter of time before you see people trying to
counterfeit them."
Counterfeiting prescription drugs has grown more lucrative in
the past decade, industry and security officials say. The
counterfeit prescription drug market is valued at more than $200
billion annually, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Distributing fake Covid-19 vaccines also is easier than stealing
and selling legitimate shots because of extreme security measures
taken by countries and drugmakers during the pandemic, said Mr.
Pelli. "With counterfeits, you kind of can just show up, and say,
'Here's Covid vaccines, we've got some, don't ask how,' and start
distributing them," Mr. Pelli said.
Big drugmakers such as Pfizer employ security teams consisting
of former law-enforcement officials who help train government
agencies and help with investigations related to counterfeit
prescription drugs. Pfizer in recent years worked with law
enforcement to find sellers of fake doses of erectile dysfunction
treatment Viagra and antianxiety drug Xanax.
One tactic used by IPR Center agents is searching the clear and
dark web with keywords related to vaccines provided by their
manufacturers.
"We've never seen so much fraud and misinformation and schemes,"
said Steve Francis, director of the IPR Center, which has opened
more than 35 cases related to Covid-19 vaccine scams.
Mr. Francis's agents and Pfizer began meeting weekly last fall
to prepare for scams and counterfeiting. During one presentation,
company officials said they didn't initially release images of the
vial's authentic labels partly as a means of staying ahead of
criminals.
Pfizer is also working with local law enforcement on
counterfeit-vaccine cases like those recently uncovered in Mexico
and Poland.
Polish police in January seized a number of vials filled with a
liquid and labeled as the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine from a man's
apartment, according to Pfizer and Polish authorities. No one is
believed to have received a fake shot, according to Polish
prosecutors leading the investigation. Polish police arrested the
man, who has been charged with fraud, Polish authorities said.
Pfizer suspected the vaccines were fake because they weren't in
the vials the company uses for its Covid-19 shot, Mr. Kubiak said.
They were identical to containers police recovered in the man's
apartment that had a label for another company's antiwrinkle
treatment.
Pfizer tested the liquid in the vials purported to be its
Covid-19 vaccine at its laboratory in Groton, Conn., finding it
lacked key ingredients and instead contained hyaluronic acid, which
is used in skin products.
In early February, Mexican police raided a clinic in the
northern state of Nuevo León, where alleged fake vaccines were
administered to people. Mexican police detained six people.
"People were injected with distilled water," said Dr. de la O
Cavazos in a telephone interview. A spokesman for Mexico's attorney
general's office, which is carrying out the investigation, declined
to comment.
Pfizer, which is working with DHS officials to support Mexican
authorities on the case, confirmed the vaccine was fake after using
special light and microscopic analysis to find the adhesive label
on the vial wasn't authentic. Mr. Kubiak declined to provide
additional details but said Pfizer may conduct more tests on the
liquid.
Mr. Kubiak said he expects counterfeiting to worsen as the
rollout continues. "Right now, consumers are easily fooled," he
said. "They are desperate for the vaccine."
Write to Jared S. Hopkins at jared.hopkins@wsj.com and José de
Córdoba at jose.decordoba@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 21, 2021 18:13 ET (22:13 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2021 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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