Irish agency alert to cancer treatment drug’s link to flesh-eating virus

The Irish Medicines Board (IMB) says it is “aware” of health concerns in Canada linking cancer treatment drug Avastin and a flesh-eating virus.

This week Health Canada warned that Avastin had been linked in rare cases to necrotising fasciitis. Two Canadians taking the drug developed the disease and one of them died.

The country’s health authorities issued the information in collaboration with the manufacturer, Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd.