Authorities seize $30m in counterfeit drugs

Chinese police said they seized US$30 million in counterfeit pharmaceuticals and arrested 114 members of a counterfeit drug ring, as authorities work to show their commitment to overhauling the country’s food and drug regulations, the Wall Street Journal reported. The arrests occurred in Anyang, in China’s central Henan province, and followed a four-month investigation of fake medicine sold in the region, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported. China is rapidly becoming one of the world’s largest markets for both legitimate and fake pharmaceuticals; domestic sales are expected to hit US$50 billion in 2011, up from US$42 billion a year earlier, and international companies like Roche Holding AG (ROG.VTX) and Pfizer (PFE.NYSE) have invested heavily in China in the past few years.