Foreign national charged with selling counterfeit cancer drugs

HOUSTON - A federal grand jury has returned an indictment charging an Indian national with selling and shipping tens of thousands of dollars in counterfeit oncology pharmaceuticals into the United States, announced U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani.

According to court documents, Sanjay Kumar, 43, of Bihar, India, and his co-conspirators allegedly arranged for the sale and shipment of fake, counterfeit versions of oncology pharmaceuticals - including Keytruda - to individuals in the United States.

Genuine Keytruda is a cancer immunotherapy that is approved in the United States for 19 different indications, including to treat certain types of melanoma, lung cancer, head and neck cancer, Hodgkin lymphoma, gastric cancer, cervical cancer and breast cancer. Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC, formerly known as Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp., has the exclusive right to authorize the manufacture of Keytruda for introduction into interstate commerce.

Kumar was arrested June 26 in Houston after traveling to the United States to conduct further negotiations aimed at expanding his business 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 up to 20 years in prison on each count as well as a possible $2,000,000 fine.

Homeland Security Investigations and Food and Drug Administration conducted the investigation.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay Hileman is prosecuting the case along with Trial Attorneys Jeff Pearlman and Bryce Rosenbower of the Criminal Division's Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.