Buscopan in Philippines has no adverse effects – Sanofi

MANILA, Philippines – Pharmaceutical firm Sanofi Philippines yesterday clarified that the Philippines is not covered by an advisory issued earlier by its counterpart in South Africa concerning the side effects of using Buscopan.

In a statement, the company said “no adverse event has been reported in the Philippines” since it started marketing the product in the contry.

“As a health care company, the safety of our patients is our first priority and we are committed to the health and well-being or our patients and consumers in the Philippines above all else,” Sanofi noted.

In June, Sanofi South Africa issued an advisory to health professionals there about adverse events from Buscopan 20mg/1ml ampole reported by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.

The label update is specific only to Buscopan injection/ampoule and “does not involve any other Buscopan products” like Buscopan Mono, Buscopan Plus and Buscopan Venus.

The product is primarily used to relieve muscle pain.

This came after the company submitted a label update for the product to South Africa’s health authorities.

Sanofi Philippines added it also submitted the same safety data to the Philippine Food and Drug Administration and the label update was approved in December 2017.