A shipment from India to USA was carrying Rybelsus on board, a tablet-form medicine used by adults with Type-2 Diabetes to help them manage blood sugar levels, also increasingly as an unofficial weight loss alternative.

 

Findings: Publican Detected a High Risk of Undervaluation, Counterfeits, and a Threat to Public Health & Safety

A significant gap was discovered between the corporate exterior of the Shipper’s impressive website and its actual physical HQ location, which reveals a more makeshift setup than what one expects from legitimate medical brands & established industry professionals.

 

 

Several flags were raised on the US-based importer, who were not officially listed as an authorized trading partners for the patent holder. Additionally, no records exist of them importing any goods from this shipper previously, nor have they ever imported anything with the applicable HS code for Rybelsus.

 

 

The declared price of the Rybelsus, $45.93 per unit, was discovered to be well below the average listed market value, which is $212.79 per unit. The goods also exhibited several irregularities; only ten tablets were in the package instead of the standard 30, the color shades were different, and the registration number was also missing.

 

How did Publican uncover this?

By leveraging its extensive wealth of unique global data, Publican was able to unearth key insights through a complete analysis of Rybelsus, its authorizations, and its official market facets. Every single element of both the Indian exporter and US importer was also inspected, uncovering subtle but significant tell-tale signs into their lack of legitimacy—concluding the shipment was likely fraudulent and posed a high risk to public safety.

Impact

As the illicit stream of substandard medicines continue to gather pace around the world, Publican’s state-of-the-art capabilities in leaving no stone unturned allowed the customs authority to uncover several key indicators that would otherwise bypass today’s standard checks—providing them with a solution that keeps falsified drugs at bay.