A batch of Botox Cosmetic for Injection 100 Units circulating in the UAE has been declared counterfeit by the Emirates Drug Establishment (EDE), which traced the problem to a batch number that AbbVie, the American firm that makes the product, does not recognise as its own.
The federal regulator identified the suspect units by their batch marking, C7048C4, and confirmed the code is absent from AbbVie’s manufacturing records. According to the EDE, the vials reached the country without passing through the import routes the authority sanctions.
Clinics, pharmacies and other medical providers have been told to halt any use, sale or onward distribution of stock bearing that batch number straight away. The regulator also pressed providers to confirm that medical products are genuine before they are administered or handed to patients.
The danger, the EDE explained, lies in the fact that fake products are made outside approved safety and quality controls. Patients exposed to them could face adverse reactions, side effects that were not anticipated, or further health complications.
Anyone who has undergone Botox treatment and later notices something out of the ordinary should raise it with a physician or pharmacist, the authority advised.
The EDE asked both medical professionals and the wider public to stay watchful and flag anything they suspect is counterfeit. Reports concerning the sale, movement or handling of the affected batch can be directed to the National Medical Products Vigilance Department at the authority, reachable by email at info@ede.gov.ae.
