Counterfeit Drugs and Food Additives in Israel, Laboratory Point of View

Zipi Hess, Israeli MOH, Jerusalem, Israel

The  Institute for standardizationand control of pharmaceuticals is responsible for the quality of medicine in Israel. The chemistry laboratory is part of the institute. The testing of counterfeit drugs is a significant topic in the laboratory's work.

The first cases of counterfeit products appeared in 2003. In recent years we see an increase in numbers. The scope of counterfeit drugs has expanded and  includes food additives, herbal or natural products that  contain active pharmaceutical ingredient (API)

The most widespread APIsare: Sildenafil, Tadalafil and Sibutramin.

There are many different products containing different amounts of API.

We developHPLC methods for quantitation and identification analysis and  GCMS methods as a second independent test for identification.

Examples of our work will be presented emphasizing the analytical challenges.