Fake Pfizer-labelled injections racket (Karnataka, 2026)

The case began with a raid on 18 Aug 2026, when Karnataka's drug regulator found an unlicensed repacking unit at a farmhouse in Bidadi, outside Bengaluru. Officers seized about Rs 5 crore of material, including 264 vials of Emblaveo bearing counterfeit Pfizer labels and vials of two other injections falsely labelled as products of other companies.

The investigation, later taken over by a police special investigation team, traced the supply to hospitals through distributors including Krupa Healthcare in Bengaluru and DM Pharma in Chennai. According to the SIT, about 15,000 counterfeit Zavicefta and Emblaveo vials, made by filling cheaper generic antibiotics into vials with Pfizer labels sourced abroad, were sold from around April 2025. Early reports that fake cancer medicines were also involved have not been borne out so far.

On 20 Sep 2026 the state cancelled 16 drug licences linked to the supply chain and suspended 8. One suspension was Pfizer's own carrying-and-forwarding depot at Nelamangala; the state health minister said this was because the depot had not cooperated with the investigation, not because Pfizer made counterfeits, and the state temporarily restricted the sale of Pfizer medicines while it investigated. Pfizer said it had withdrawn the genuine batches whose numbers the counterfeiters had copied. An assistant drug controller was suspended, and on 25 Sep the Karnataka High Court held that one distributor's suspension should be treated only as a show-cause notice. Reports differ on the exact list of cancelled licences and on whether seven or eight people have been arrested.