FDA Confirms Fake Albumin and Anti-Rabies Serum Collected From Two Davao City Establishments

By Kaeleb Savon Heck

DAVAO CITY, Philippines, Nov. 2, 2026 — The Food and Drug Administration has confirmed that fake versions of two life-saving injectable medicines were collected from two establishments in Davao City this year: two lots of counterfeit human albumin and one lot of counterfeit anti-rabies serum.

Eba Marie Antonette Inis, officer-in-charge director II of the FDA Mindanao East Cluster, disclosed the findings on Friday, Oct. 30, during a Department of Health (DOH) media engagement at the DOH Davao Center for Health Development, SunStar Davao reported. Across the whole Davao Region, she said, five products from four establishments have now been confirmed as counterfeit, and more samples are still being tested.

The finding matters because neither product is an everyday pill. Human albumin is given by intravenous drip to restore blood volume in emergencies and to treat dangerously low albumin levels in conditions such as severe burns. Anti-rabies serum is given after severe exposures such as dog bites, together with wound washing and vaccination, to stop an infection that is fatal once symptoms appear. A fake dose of either one can leave a patient without the protection they think they received, at the exact moment they need it most.

What the FDA found

In her report to SunStar, Inis identified the three Davao City products by name and lot number:

• Albumin (Human) USP 25% Albuminar-25, 50 mL intravenous solution, Lot No. NGC826348
• Albumin (Human) USP 25% Albuminar-25, 50 mL intravenous solution, Lot No. PRT279082
• Anti-Rabies Serum (Equine) (Equirab) 200 IU/mL (1,000 IU/5 mL) solution for injection, 5 mL vial, Lot No. A06825016

A lot, sometimes called a batch, is a quantity of a drug made in a single manufacturing run and marked with a unique code. That code is what lets regulators and hospitals trace where a product came from and where it went.

"For the whole Davao Region, we have five confirmed counterfeit products with four establishments po na nakuha og counterfeit products," Inis said, using a mix of English and Bisaya; the phrase translates roughly as "from which counterfeit products were taken." She stressed that the count covers only the samples that have tested positive so far. Fuller figures are still being consolidated.

The FDA official did not publicly name the establishments where the products were found, according to the published reports.

Two national advisories, one regional confirmation

The Davao findings line up with two national public health warnings the FDA had already posted this fall.

In FDA Advisory No. 2026-1609, posted on its website on Oct. 26, the agency warned against counterfeit Albuminar-25. The advisory said CSL Behring, the company behind the genuine Albuminar brand, no longer manufactures it, that the last batch of Albuminar 25% supplied to the Philippines expired in September 2022, and that AlbuRx 25% 50 mL is now the only authorized human albumin product on the Philippine market, SunStar reported. In plain terms, any "Albuminar-25" being sold today should be treated as suspect.

In FDA Advisory No. 2026-1402, posted Oct. 5, the agency warned against counterfeit Equirab carrying Batch No. A06825016 and an expiry date of March 2027. That advisory noted that "the concerned batch of Equirab has an authentic counterpart available in the market." That makes this fake harder to catch, because a genuine vial with the same batch number also exists.

Both advisories warned that the counterfeits pose serious health risks when given to patients and that "anyone found selling the said counterfeit drug product will be penalized."

Counterfeit Equirab is not a new problem. SunStar noted that the FDA has issued similar warnings against fake Equirab since at least 2021. A separate FDA advisory from 2025, No. 2025-0091, warned against another counterfeit Equirab batch, A06823032, and cited Republic Act No. 9711, the Food and Drug Administration Act of 2009, and Republic Act No. 8203, the Special Law on Counterfeit Drugs, as the laws violated by anyone importing, selling or offering such products.

Why albumin and anti-rabies serum are targets

The two products share traits that make them attractive to counterfeiters. Both are biologic medicines, made from blood plasma or animal serum rather than simple chemistry, and both are relatively expensive. Both are also often bought in a hurry: a family dealing with a burn victim or a fresh dog bite may be shopping under pressure, sometimes outside regular pharmacy channels, and may not have time to compare prices or check labels.

Inis pointed to price as one of the clearest warning signs. According to DavaoNews, which summarized the SunStar report, she cited anti-rabies vaccines that normally cost more than P1,000 being offered for about P600. When a critical medicine is dramatically cheaper than usual, she said in effect, that should raise questions rather than relief.

Other red flags she listed include:

• Labels in a foreign language that have not been translated
• Spelling errors on the box or label
• Packaging that claims to be "FDA approved" or carries an FDA logo
• Tablets that are cracked, discolored or crystallizing

She also urged people not to buy medicines from sari-sari stores or from purely online pharmacies. The FDA does not license fully virtual drugstores, so a seller that exists only online is outside the agency's licensing system.

"I'm urging everyone to please buy medicines only from FDA-licensed drug stores," Inis said. She added that people who suspect a fake can report it anonymously through the FDA website.

A smaller problem than during the pandemic, but not gone

Inis said counterfeit cases in Davao City have decreased compared with past years, according to DavaoNews. Many of the seizures in earlier years came during the 2021 to 2022 pandemic period, when demand for medicines surged and supply chains were strained.

Still, the latest confirmations show the problem has not disappeared. The albumin case is especially striking because the genuine product has not been supplied to the country in more than four years. That means the fake vials were not stray leftovers from an old legitimate shipment. They were products that, by the FDA's own account, should not have been on any shelf at all.

Analysis: what this means for patients and families in Davao

For most households, the practical risk sits with how and where medicines are bought, not with the hospitals and licensed pharmacies that follow FDA procurement rules. The cases disclosed on Friday involved products collected from establishments, and the FDA's guidance is consistent: buy from licensed outlets, keep receipts, and be wary of bargains.

For anyone bitten or scratched by an animal, the safer path is treatment at a hospital or a licensed clinic rather than buying serum or vaccine on one's own and bringing it in. That way, the dose comes through a supply chain that regulators can trace.

For people with disabilities and older residents who rely on family members or caregivers to buy medicines for them, the warning signs are worth sharing out loud. Some of the red flags the FDA lists, such as spelling errors, logos and the look of a tablet, are visual. Someone who cannot see the packaging clearly may need a trusted person, or the pharmacist, to read the label, lot number and expiry date aloud and compare them with the FDA's advisories.

Clinics and drugstores also have a role. Both advisories warned establishments against selling or dispensing the listed products, and the FDA said sellers will be penalized. Checking incoming stock against the published lot numbers is the most direct way for a business to avoid passing a fake on to a patient.

What's next

• More test results: Inis said more products from the region have been submitted for testing, so the count of confirmed counterfeits may rise as results come back.
• National awareness week: The disclosures came ahead of the National Consciousness Week Against Counterfeit Medicines, which falls in the third week of November, according to DavaoNews. Health officials are expected to use that week for more public warnings.
• Enforcement: The FDA has said anyone found selling the listed counterfeits will be penalized under the law. It has not announced charges in the Davao cases.
• How to report: Anyone who suspects a counterfeit medicine can file an anonymous report through the FDA website at fda.gov.ph.

Sources

• SunStar Davao, "FDA Detects Fake Albumin and Rabies Serum in Davao," Nov. 1, 2026: https://www.sunstar.com.ph/davao/fake-albumin-rabies-serum-found-in-davao-city
• DavaoNews, "FDA confirms fake albumin and anti-rabies serum from two Davao City establishments," Nov. 1, 2026: https://davaonews.com/news/fake-albumin-rabies-serum-found-in-davao-city-uco4xj
• Food and Drug Administration Philippines, FDA Advisory No. 2025-0091 on counterfeit Equirab (Batch A06823032): https://www.fda.gov.ph/fda-advisory-no-2025-0091-public-health-warning-against-the-purchase-and-use-of-the-counterfeit-drug-product-anti-rabies-serum-equine-equirab-200-iu-ml-1000-iu-5-ml-solution-for-inje/
• SunStar, "FDA warns public vs counterfeit anti-rabies vax": https://www.sunstar.com.ph/manila/fda-warns-public-vs-counterfeit-anti-rabies-vax-2