Life-saving oncology medicines worth more than €822,000 were stolen from the pharmacy of the Istituto Nazionale Tumori IRCCS Fondazione G. Pascale in Naples on 17 September 2025.

The theft targeted experimental molecules not yet on the market alongside other oncological treatments. Reports put the assessed value at approximately €800,000 to €822,000, with Il Mattino reporting a figure of more than €822,000.

Two precautionary measures

In connection with the Pascale theft, two people were subjected to precautionary measures: one was placed in prison and one was placed under house arrest.

The available reporting does not identify the two people. The precise medicines taken, their quantities, and the current status of the criminal proceedings are not fully detailed in the retrieved material.

The headline of the initial report describes the alleged involvement of a security guard in the case. The retrieved sources do not provide further verified detail about that alleged connection in the Pascale theft itself.

Why it matters for patients

The medicines taken were described as life-saving antitumoral treatments, including experimental molecules.

The theft raised concerns about patients' therapeutic continuity, which the hospital indicated was an important consideration following the loss of the drugs from its pharmacy.

A broader pattern of hospital-pharmacy thefts

Separately, the Carabinieri have described a wider investigation into thefts of life-saving antitumoral medicines from hospital pharmacies.

In that broader investigation, which led to ten precautionary measures in March 2026, investigators described an alleged criminal network targeting hospital pharmacies. In that separate context, the Carabinieri reported the alleged involvement of a security guard acting as an inside facilitator in three thefts at the Federico II hospital.

The retrieved sources do not establish whether the Pascale theft was legally linked to that broader Federico II investigation.

What remains unclear

Several points should be confirmed from judicial documents or an official investigative statement:

  • The identities of the two people subject to measures in the Pascale case
  • The exact list and quantities of the stolen medicines
  • Whether the Pascale case is formally connected to the wider series of hospital-pharmacy thefts
  • The exact assessed value, given the small difference between the €800,000 and €822,000 figures reported

What is verified is the core of the case: on 17 September 2025, the Pascale Institute in Naples lost life-saving oncology drugs, including experimental treatments, valued at more than €822,000, and two people were placed under precautionary measures.