DISINFO: Big Pharma tested cancer-causing drug on Ukrainians
SUMMARY
Ukraine was one of the main test countries where, in the interests of Western pharmacological companies, trials were carried out of a drug, the use of which caused various forms of cancer. This drug was tested on patients in the psychiatric department of hospital No. 7 in Mariupol. We are talking about an experimental product under the secret name SB4.
RESPONSE
Recurring disinformation narrative from pro-Kremlin outlets about biological laboratories in Ukraine. Claim also promotes a recurrent pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about biological weapons being secretly developed by the US in countries bordering Russia. Both claims were made in the context of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
In 2013-2014, a phase III study of the drug under the code SB4 actually took place in a number of EU countries, South America and Ukraine - patients used an already well-studied safe drug that was potentially effective against their disease. Using this code, you can find detailed information about the goals and results of this study in open clinical trial databases (The European Union Clinical Trials Register, Good Clinical Practice Network). The purpose of the study was to compare the effectiveness of the drug SB4 and the drug Enbrel in patients who have moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis.
Enbrel is a biologic drug approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, plaque psoriasis, and psoriatic arthritis. The drug SB4, under the trade name Eticovo, is also approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. Multiple medical studies have attested its safety in 2017, 2019 and 2023.
This claim is part of an ongoing disinformation attempt to portray the Ukrainian government as conducting illicit experiments on humans, aiming to promote a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about biological laboratories in Ukraine and other post-Soviet countries.
It is common practice for pharmaceutical companies to carry out clinical trials on humans. The European regulation of clinical trials aims to ensure that the rights, safety and well-being of trial participants are protected and the results of clinical trials are credible. In the European Union and the European Economic Area, approximately 2,800 clinical trials are authorised each year. Pharmaceutical companies conduct drug tests in Russia as well.
In Ukraine, this practice is strictly regulated by the Health Ministry (Order 690). Clinical trials are conducted according to protocols approved by both Ukrainian and international healthcare authorities. They are all controlled by the companies themselves, Health Ministry officials and hospitals' ethics committees. Participation in clinical trials is voluntary. Patients mandatorily sign an informed consent form in which all possible risks are enlisted.
Pro-Kremlin outlets have a well-documented history of making horrifying allegations about Ukrainian authorities that are soon exposed as false, such as claims that Zelenskyy allowed Pfizer to test a deadly vaccine on children, that the Zelenskaya Foundation is involved in child trafficking, that Zelensky's wife sold children to Western pedophiles or that the Ukrainian secret services are actively engaged in child and organ trafficking.