Is the mystery of the theft of medicines from the AP-HP pharmacy in Nanterre (Hauts-de-Seine) about to be resolved?
Two forty-year-olds arrested Wednesday morning by the BRB (banditry suppression brigade) must be referred today to the Nanterre court, the Nanterre prosecutor's office confirms to Le Parisien, with a view to their indictment by an investigating judge.
The prosecution requests their placement in pre-trial detention.
In the suspect tandem, one is an employee of the site.
Nothing suggested a rapid recovery, the complaint having been filed a month after the facts reported.
The more time passes, the more random the collection of evidence becomes.
A palette of medicines had disappeared from the stocks of the General Agency for Health Equipment and Products in Nanterre, better known as for forty years the central pharmacy of the Assistance publique-Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP), which brings together 39 hospitals.
In this palette, several cases of Keytruda, a star drug manufactured and marketed by the American laboratory Merck-MSD, to treat cancer by immunotherapy.
At 2,400 euros per 4 ml bottle, and almost 5,000 euros per injection, the bill mounts quickly.
The amount of the stolen pallet was estimated at 2 million euros.
For the pharmaceutical industry, it is now one of the most profitable products in the world.
And for the thugs, a nice loot in sight.
Trafficking in anti-cancer drugs has exploded over the past five years.
“No repercussions for patients”
The two men arrested Wednesday morning near their homes, in Seine-Saint-Denis and Essonne, are complete strangers to the justice system.
One of them is an employee of the Nanterre site, the second is a driver.
A little more than 2,000 euros in cash was found by the BRB during a search of the Ageps employee.
The investigation will continue, as part of a judicial investigation.
What happened to the drugs?
No information has yet filtered out on this aspect of the investigation, which will continue under the direction of an investigating judge.
When asked, the AP-HP “did not wish to comment on a current procedure”, but specified that “at no time was the continuity of supply of the drug interrupted and that there was no repercussions for patients.