A US court charged Sanjay Kumar, a 43-year-old resident of Bihar, India, for allegedly selling and shipping significant quantities of counterfeit oncology drugs into the United States.
A federal grand jury in Houston returned an indictment charging Kumar with selling and shipping tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of counterfeit oncology pharmaceuticals into the country. According to court documents, Kumar and his co-conspirators allegedly arranged for the sale and shipment of fake versions of oncology drugs, including Keytruda.
He was arrested on June 26 in Houston after traveling to the States to conduct further negotiations aimed at expanding his business of selling fake Keytruda in the U.S. market.
Kumar 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.
Genuine Keytruda, a cancer immunotherapy, is approved in the United States for 19 different indications, treating various cancers such as melanoma, lung cancer, head and neck cancer, Hodgkin lymphoma, gastric cancer, cervical cancer, and breast cancer. Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC holds the exclusive right to manufacture Keytruda for interstate commerce.
HSI and the FDA investigated the case. Trial Attorneys Jeff Pearlman and Bryce Rosenbower of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay Hileman for the Southern District of Texas are prosecuting the case.
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