The medicines watchdog is recalling several batches of medicines used to treat seizures and Parkinson’s disease, over concerns the supply chain may have been compromised.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said the batches of Neupro and Vimpat, which were distributed to UK wholesalers and pharmacies from Italy, had been found to have mismatched unique pack numbers on the bollino labels – a security feature on the outer packaging.

The unique pack numbers on the bollino label should be identical, the MHRA said.

The affected medicines include Neupro 4mg/24 hour Transdermal Patches and Vimpat 100mg tablets from five different wholesalers: Beachcourse Limited, Orifarm A/S, OPD Laboratories Limited, Strathclyde Pharmaceuticals Limited, Quadrant Pharmaceuticals Limited, and Lexon (UK) Limited.

It is believed that the labels are mismatched because a wholesaler in Italy purchased the medicines from an unauthorized wholesaler, the watchdog said in an alert published earlier this week (16 September).

The case is currently under investigation in collaboration with the Italian authorities, it added.

PSNC have advised pharmacies to quarantine all stock from the affected batches, which are parallel distributed or repacked by the named companies.

‘The name of the parallel distributor can be found on the product packaging. If you have any affected stock, please return it to your supplier,’ it said.