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UNCLAS CAIRO 001677 
 
SENSITIVE, SIPDIS 
 
C O R R E C T E D COPY - ADDING SUBJ LINE 
 
USTR FOR FRANCESKI 
COMMERCE FOR 4520/ITA/ANESA AND USPTO 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: ECON KIPR ETRD EG
SUBJECT: Egypt: Counterfeit Drugs Threaten Public Health, IPR 
 
Sensitive but Unclassified, Not for Internet Distribution 
 
¶1. (U) Summary: GOE health and security officials are 
seeking assistance from US pharmaceutical companies to 
combat counterfeit drugs, which threaten public health, 
cost an estimated 1 billion Egyptian pounds ($190 million) 
a year, and violate the intellectual property rights of the 
innovative drug companies.  Pfizer hopes to launch a pilot 
project in Egypt for combating counterfeits.  End Summary. 
 
--------------- 
Dangerous Fakes 
--------------- 
 
¶2.  (U) According to estimates by Egyptian pharmaceutical 
representatives, Egyptians spend 1 billion Egyptian pounds 
($190 million) a year for counterfeit medicine out of 10 
billion pounds spent overall on pharmaceuticals.  A study 
by the pharmaceutical company Aventis indicated that 18% of 
drugs sold in Egypt are counterfeit. 
 
¶3.  (U) Most of the counterfeit products found locally are 
unsophisticated copies with either no active ingredient or 
potentially dangerous ingredients such as ink jet dye, 
ecstasy, amphetamines, and boric acid, Pfizer 
representatives said in a meeting in the Embassy. 
Counterfeits of Viagra - the world's most pirated drug - 
generally contain none of the actual drug. 
 
¶4.  (U) Pfizer representatives told us that it is difficult 
for them to estimate the magnitude of counterfeiting here 
because most drugs are sold over-the-counter.  Therefore, 
tracking doctors' prescriptions to determine the total 
market size is not possible, although it might be possible 
to track actual sales.  Regardless, there are many possible 
shipping routes into Egypt, and parallel importation - 
importing a drug that had been manufactured for sale in 
another country - is not illegal.  According to Pfizer, 
while most counterfeits here are imported from China, 
India, and Pakistan, investigators discovered two 
counterfeit drug manufacturing plants in Cairo in recent 
years. 
 
------------------ 
GOE Investigations 
------------------ 
 
¶5.  (SBU) The Ministry of Interior's Anti-counterfeiting 
and Trade police conduct about 250 drug raids and seizures 
a year, according to the head of the unit, General Mohamed 
Ibrahim Abou Shady.  The maximum penalty for counterfeiting 
drugs is 3-7 years, but the offender is most often only 
fined and released.  Fines for a first offence range from 
5,000 to 20,000 Egyptian pounds ($900-$3,600). 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Investigations begin with inspections initiated 
based on tips from informants, or complaints by rights- 
holders. Police also maintain a watch-list of past 
offenders and common locations for counterfeit drugs. 
Suspect drugs must be removed from pharmacy shelves until 
cleared by the MOH.  Abou Shady indicated that police 
generally coordinate with health inspectors, although 
pharmaceutical companies report that such coordination 
breaks down at times, resulting in cases being dismissed 
from court. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Abou Shady has coordinated with Pfizer as well as 
companies in other sectors such as HP, Cannon, and GM to 
help investigators distinguish between legitimate and 
illegitimate products.  Even so, he said investigators 
often have trouble identifying pirated products because of 
inadequate packaging security features and difficulties in 
getting information on legitimate products from 
rightholders.  He hopes to increase training and 
coordination with the private sector to identify original 
products. 
 
------------ 
Future plans 
------------ 
 
¶8.  (U) Coordinating closely with the GOE, Pfizer intends 
to sponsor training and conferences for Egyptian officials 
to raise awareness on IPR crimes, give officials global 
perspective on IPR issues, and help them identify 
counterfeit products.  A Pfizer official told us that Egypt 
will be a pilot product for their anti-counterfeiting 
initiatives, which could include training for Ministry of 
Interior investigators as well as about 45 inspectors under 
the Ministry of Health's Drug Policy and Planning 
Committee. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Comment: Private-sector engagement with the GOE 
has proven effective to combat other IPR violations, such 
as Microsoft's efforts against computer software piracy in 
Egypt.  In this case, Pfizer could help the GOE save lives 
as well as protect intellectual property.  We will continue 
to work with the GOE and private sector support these 
efforts. 
 
Scobey