Delhi Police have registered an FIR after four vials of the cancer drug Nimotuzumab, each valued at more than Rs 40,000, allegedly went missing from the Delhi State Cancer Institute, the Delhi government’s only cancer hospital.
According to a complaint filed by Dr Pankaj Tyagi, associate professor and pharmacy in-charge at the institute, the four 50 mg vials were placed in a refrigerator in the chemotherapy daycare department on October 3 after a chemotherapy procedure. They were found missing on October 5. The hospital submitted its complaint on October 9, and the FIR was registered at the GTB Enclave police station on Monday.
Nimotuzumab is a targeted therapy used for certain head and neck cancers. It works by blocking EGFR, a protein found on cancer cells, and is used alongside radiotherapy or chemotherapy. The market price of a 50 mg vial of Biomab EGFR, Biocon’s brand of Nimotuzumab, is reported to range from Rs 40,000 to Rs 55,000. Police have yet to establish the procurement cost of the vials or determine how they disappeared.
Hospital sources also told The Indian Express that several units of Sofosbuvir, an antiviral medicine used to treat Hepatitis C, have gone missing. The medicine does not form part of the police complaint. A strip of 28 tablets of the 400 mg formulation is reported to sell for between Rs 10,000 and Rs 13,000.
The report said hospital staff had previously flagged suspected medicine theft at the institute. Following the latest case, the Delhi State Cancer Institute has constituted an internal complaints committee to conduct a separate inquiry.
The police are examining whether the alleged disappearance is connected to an organised medicine diversion network. In August, the Delhi Police Crime Branch arrested 17 people for allegedly operating a multi-state racket involving stolen and counterfeit cancer medicines. Police reportedly recovered 23 suspected counterfeit anti-cancer medicines, 337 anti-cancer vials and more than Rs 20 lakh in cash. The alleged network was said to operate across Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Haryana and Hyderabad.
The incident adds to scrutiny of the hospital’s operational systems. The Indian Express had reported in August that medical equipment worth more than Rs 50 crore was lying unused at the institute. The report also said the chemotherapy daycare room was not in use and that patients were being asked to get tests done at private centres. The police investigation and the internal committee’s inquiry are the next steps in establishing how the medicines went missing and whether further stock discrepancies occurred.
