Overview

• Federal courts authorized new raids on HLB Pharma’s Beccar facility to seize evidence related to alleged forgery of municipal certificates for chemical precursors.
• ANMAT reaffirmed on August 7 that HLB Pharma is officially barred from all pharmaceutical activities, reinforcing its March suspension after lethal bacterial contamination was detected.
• Investigators have linked at least 76 fatalities across Buenos Aires, Santa Fe and Córdoba to fentanyl batches 31202 and 31244, yet more than 90,000 of over 300,000 ampoules remain unaccounted for.
• Prosecutors have charged 24 individuals, imposing asset freezes and travel bans on HLB Pharma executives and technical directors for negligence, forgery and other regulatory violations.
• Genetic and forensic analyses are under way to match bacterial samples from deceased patients to the contaminated batches and establish direct manufacturer liability.