THIEVES made off with $2.5 million worth of drugs that were reported stolen from the St James Medical Facility last Monday, according to Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh.

Deyalsingh, who spoke at the Prime Minister's media conference on Saturday said 25 vials of one of the drugs, tocilizumab, which was recently approved for covid19 treatment for critical patients, was part of the loot stolen.

Tocilizumab is an immuno-suppressive drug, which is approved of for rheumatoid arthritis, was used off-label to treat covid19 internationally for some time and on Friday the Health Ministry approved it to be used locally. As of Saturday one patient was administered the drug for covid19. Deyalsingh said that there is sufficient amount to be used for both covid19 and arthritis.

The stolen drugs included succinyl choline, bevacizumab, bleomycin, cetuximab, traztuzumab, tocilizumab, docetaxel, cyclophosphamide, insulin, oxytocin, rituximab, fulvestrant and epirubacin.

Newsday was informed by a pharmacist that five of the drugs need to be kept in cold storage. These drugs, bevacizumab, cetuximab, traztuzumab, tocilizumab and rituximab are all biological monoclonal antibodies that require cold storage to maintain stability.

Western Division police said they received a report of stolen drugs from the centre on Monday after staff discovered the storage area broken into and the medicine missing. Police said the drugs came into the medical facility last Wednesday and were secured up to Friday.

The total quantity of drugs stolen has not been divulged, with police only saying that it was a 'substantial amount' and the NWRHA not saying, since the matter is being investigated.

When asked if any staff at the centre were suspects, police said they were following several leads and considered everyone a suspect until proven otherwise. They suspect the thieves may be hoping to sell the drugs to private health institutions.

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