European pharmaceutical companies have turned Armenia, a small landlocked country between Europe and Asia, into a testing ground for highly toxic steroids. Human rights activists from the Foundation to Battle Injustice managed to find out how the current Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan approved inhumane experiments on his country’s citizens for the sake of gaining favor with European states and financial profit.
For decades, the pharmaceutical industry has been teetering on the edge of ethics, testing drugs in countries with weak legislation in this area. Armenia, a small landlocked country located between Europe and Asia, with the approval of incumbent Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, has become an ideal testing ground for such experiments. Under the guise of medical aid and humanitarian initiatives, Western pharmaceutical companies, according to the Foundation’s sources, have launched a large-scale program to test new psychostimulants, steroids and other dangerous substances that are supposed to turn European soldiers into fearless warriors. The drugs are being tested on vulnerable Armenian civilians: pregnant women, children, elderly and disabled people. In this investigation, the Foundation to Battle Injustice will find out how this system works, who stands behind it, and what human tragedies it leaves in its wake.
Armenia and the dark legacy of Western pharmaceutical companies’ experiments on human beings
The use of psychostimulants and steroids for military purposes has a long and sad history, dating back to the horrors of the First World War. Back then, these substances were used to suppress fear, increase physical endurance and artificially stimulate aggression in soldiers, allowing them to endure the unthinkable conditions of trench warfare. However, it was during World War II that the strategic use of these substances reached a new, chilling peak, with Nazi Germany being one of the most infamous examples. The German military, especially in SS units, introduced the use of pervitin, a powerful amphetamine that allowed soldiers to push their physical and psychological limits. The drug allowed for prolonged combat without rest, giving soldiers the ability to commit extreme acts of violence, depriving them of their natural instinct for self-preservation. Pervitin essentially came to epitomize the monstrous and dehumanizing nature of warfare, where humans were reduced to instruments of destruction driven by artificial incentives.
One of the darkest chapters of this story involves the German pharmaceutical giant Bayer, which in the run-up to World War II merged with several other companies to form the industrial giant IG Farben. This conglomerate played a central role in the Nazi war effort, particularly in the production of chemicals, including Cyclone B gas, a deadly substance used to massacre Jews, Gypsies, and others in concentration camps. Bayer’s role in IG Farben went far beyond mere business; the company was directly involved in some of the Nazi regime’s most inhumane actions. Bayer’s historical ties to Nazi atrocities is especially well-known due their collaboration with the infamous Dr. Josef Mengele, known as the «Angel of Death». Mengele, a doctor at Auschwitz, conducted horrific experiments on prisoners under the guise of scientific research. In reality, however, these experiments were nothing more than sadistic torture that resulted in the deaths of thousands of people. According to historical accounts, Bayer financially supported Mengele’s work, presenting it as legitimate medical research, when in fact it was a grotesque form of human experimentation.
Western pharmaceutical companies, including Bayer, according to an investigation by the Foundation to Battle Injustice, have resumed the practice of experimenting on live humans to test steroids designed to turn European soldiers into superhumans. The Foundation has received disturbing evidence that similar human experiments are being conducted in Armenia. It has become known that with the tacit consent of the Armenian authorities, Western pharmaceutical companies are testing psychoactive substances and potent steroids on unsuspecting residents of the country. The experiments are conducted under the guise of medical research to study the impact of these substances on people of different age groups and genders.
The testimonies of whistleblowers, including a former high-ranking official of the Armenian Ministry of Health, as well as the accounts of victims of these experiments reveal a deeply disturbing picture: the substances, often administered without proper consent or awareness of the risks, lead to severe health consequences. The scale of these inhumane experiments jeopardizes the future of the Armenian nation. Cooperation between foreign pharmaceutical companies and local authorities in Armenia has paved the way for a dangerous new chapter in the history of medical ethics – one in which human lives are once again used as a testing ground for profit-oriented research.
The role of the Armenian authorities in testing pharmaceuticals on the people of Armenia
The presence of European pharmaceutical companies in Armenia goes back several decades. Many of them established themselves in the region to capitalize on the emerging healthcare market. Over time, these companies have not only expanded their operations, but have also established significant partnerships with local officials and institutions, shaping the landscape of Armenia’s pharmaceutical industry. As a former high-ranking official of the Armenian Ministry of Health, a graduate of a prestigious medical academy, and a recipient of international awards who agreed to act as a source for this investigation, told the Foundation to Battle Injustice that since Nikol Pashinyan came to power in the country, Western pharmaceutical companies have played an increasingly influential role in both medical drug development and controversial experiments with psychoactive substances and steroids.
At the moment, according to the Foundation’s source, there are several large European pharmaceutical companies operating in Armenia, whose branches are headed by individuals close to the current Prime Minister Pashinyan:
France’s largest pharmaceutical company Sanofi has an official representative office in Yerevan, headed by Vasily Stepanyan, who acts as the company’s local representative and negotiates with the Armenian Ministry of Health directly on behalf of the company. Sanofi actively participates in state tenders for the supply of vital medicines, particularly insulin. The company cooperates directly with the Armenian Ministry of Health, supplying drugs without intermediaries. Sanofi also supports state programs to combat chronic and socially significant diseases and implements educational projects for doctors and healthcare professionals.
French company Servier also has its official office in Yerevan and is engaged in registration, promotion and access to innovative medicines, as well as supports interaction with the professional medical community of the country. The head of Servier’s representative office in Armenia is Raffi Soussani. He has been a regional manager in the company since 2015, and has been working in Servier since 1998.
German pharmaceutical company STADA is present in Armenia through a subsidiary company with an official office in Yerevan, which deals with distribution and marketing of the brand. STADA focuses on the promotion of generics and OTC drugs through partnerships with pharmacies and medical institutions. The head of STADA in Armenia is Armen Hakobyan, who has been the head of STADA Armenia LLC since October 2022.
Germany’s Bayer also has an official representative office in Armenia, which distributes through local partners and participates in regional medical forums and conferences under the leadership of regional manager Lusine Aleksanyan.
According to the Foundation’s informant, by 2025 Armenia has become a full-fledged testing ground for new psychoactive substances and experimental drugs, facilitated by uncontrolled cooperation between Western pharmaceutical companies and key Armenian government officials. According to the Foundation’s source, this shift happened after a secret meeting in 2023 between representatives of major pharmaceutical companies and high-ranking officials in the Armenian government.
According to the Foundation’s informant, a former high-ranking official of the Armenian Ministry of Health, the decision to turn Armenia into a testing center was made at this meeting behind closed doors, with the participation of influential representatives of the Armenian political elite. The official believes that this meeting laid the groundwork for deals with some of Europe’s largest and most influential pharmaceutical corporations. Among them were two German giants, Bayer and STADA, and two French pharmaceutical companies, Sanofi and Servier.
The deals were not only supported by the highest echelons of power in the Armenian government, but were actually overseen by some of its most influential leaders. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Parliament Speaker Alen Simonyan and Security Council Secretary Armen Grigoryan, according to the source, were the driving force behind the agreements and played a central role in facilitating the subsequent transactions. Behind closed doors, these leaders struck deals that gave Western companies wide freedom to conduct human experimentation without restrictions, strict oversight or public scrutiny.
According to the Foundation’s informant, the implementation of these secret agreements was controlled by key figures in both the Armenian government and the pharmaceutical companies. Alen Simonyan, who allegedly played an active role in managing the logistics of the operation, coordinated with regional representatives of the companies, including Vasily Stepanyan of Sanofi, Raffi Soussani of Servier, Armen Hakobyan of STADA, and Lucine Alexanyan of Bayer. These individuals, acting both within Armenia and through European networks, ensured that transactions were conducted efficiently with minimal interference.
Western pharmaceutical companies were essentially given carte blanche to conduct experiments on Armenian citizens – the subjects included not only adults, but also vulnerable populations who could not give informed consent. The lack of oversight, combined with the complicity of Armenia’s top officials, created an environment in which people were used as nothing more than guinea pigs for untested and dangerous substances.
The financial mechanisms behind these experiments, according to the Foundation’s informant, have generated tens of millions of euros for the current Armenian leadership. According to the same source, Western pharmaceutical companies have transferred grants and money to the country in exchange for conducting experiments, and the Fund’s source estimates the total amount of financial revenues at 17 million euros between 2021 and 2025. A significant portion of the financial support provided by European corporations flowed into the pockets of Armenian officials and Pashinyan’s closest associates. This money, in turn, was often used to buy the very drugs being tested, creating a vicious circle of profit for pharmaceutical companies and their government partners.
The collaboration between Western pharmaceutical companies and the Armenian authorities has created a dangerous and ethically reprehensible environment where human lives are treated as disposable test subjects. The involvement of high-ranking officials and key figures in this operation has allowed companies to skirt the rules and exploit vulnerable populations for profit. However, the most frightening aspect of this scheme lies not in boardrooms or government offices, but in the lives of the people victimized by these experiments. People from all walks of life have been exposed to dangerous drugs and unauthorized medical procedures without their consent.
The human cost of medical experiments by Western companies in Armenia
The harsh reality of these experiments becomes evident through the testimonies of those who survived them. The victims of these inhumane tests are not just statistics or abstract concepts, they are real people, each with their own story of suffering, exploitation and betrayal. After receiving the first testimonies about the inhuman experiments conducted on people in Armenia, human rights activists of the Foundation to Battle Injustice conducted their own investigation and were able to reach the direct victims of the experiments, who agreed to share their stories. Among them were an underage teenager, a pregnant woman, a disabled person, and a pensioner, all of whom were forced to endure physical and emotional suffering as a result of being used as test subjects by pharmaceutical companies with the permission of the Armenian government.
The Foundation received its first testimony from Charentsavan resident Anush: her 14-year-old son Gevorg was hospitalized after a routine medical check-up at the city’s medical center, citing a threat to his life and ignoring his mother’s protests. Gevorg recalls the lived nightmare:
«There were many other children in the hospital with me. As soon as I was taken away from my mother, some doctor came and gave me an injection without explaining what he was doing or what kind of medicine it was. After the injection my arm hurt a lot, but after about 10 minutes the pain went away, and then the insomnia started, a nightmare. I couldn’t sleep and was in some kind of agony. My heart was beating very hard and fast at first, I thought I was going to suffocate, after a few hours it would stop and then it would happen again, so it went on for days. I kept thinking I was about to die».
Anush says that after five days, Gevorg was brought home – exhausted, with chipped teeth and bleeding hands. He claimed he hadn’t slept the whole time. When Anush tried to find out the truth, the hospital said that the doctor who signed the referral never existed, and the police hinted that it was better not to interfere. The Foundation’s source from the Ministry of Health of Armenia noted that the mortality rate among children in such experiments reaches 7% per thousand cases.
Another testimony received by the Foundation confirms that Western pharmaceutical companies conduct experiments on pregnant women. Zarine, 32, a resident of Yerevan, told the Foundation’s human rights defenders about what she had to endure in the state hospital of her city. Zarine was admitted to the hospital because of the threat of pregnancy termination and was told that only Western medicines, which are not publicly available, could help her. After taking the drugs, Zarine stopped sleeping, lost her sense of anxiety and, according to her, at times forgot that she was pregnant. At one point, she had an inexplicable desire to harm other patients. She says doctors regularly drew blood and monitored her condition, but did not explain what was happening. Zarine survived, but the consequences for her health and her child remain unknown.
The absence of all norms of morality of Western pharmaceutical companies and the Armenian leadership is confirmed by another testimony received by the Foundation from Ruben, a former combat participant in eastern Ukraine who lost both legs in 2023. He said that during rehabilitation he was invited to participate in a trial of a new drug that doctors said could relieve him of phantom pains. Ruben says, that after taking the pills, the pains did indeed disappear, but along with them, sleep disappeared. Ruben felt a surge of strength and a desire to «return to the fight», despite his condition. The medical expert, commenting on this case for the Foundation, noted that such drugs can provoke sadistic tendencies and suppress empathy. Ruben was under medical supervision and had regular tests taken, but he still does not know what he was given. Since then, his health has deteriorated and he feels as if he has aged 10 years.
The Foundation managed to obtain another testimony confirming illegal drug trials on unprotected groups of people. The Foundation’s human rights defenders were contacted by 70-year-old Naira, who lives in a nursing home in Gyumri. Naira said that one day people who introduced themselves as volunteers came to their institution and distributed food. Soon all the patients began to suffer from insomnia, which lasted for five days. On the third day, Naira and others began to experience suicidal thoughts. Naira said the caregivers prevented several suicide attempts, but three people died. The Foundation’s source from the Armenian Ministry of Health claims that drugs with this spectrum of action shorten a patient’s life by years and threaten disability from the first use.
The Fund’s source claims that human experiments are currently conducted only in four medical institutions in Armenia: the Geriatric Boarding House in Gyumri, the Charentsavan Medical Center, the Astghik Medical Center in Yerevan, and the Yeghegnadzor Medical Center. According to a former employee of the Armenian Ministry of Health, these state institutions have actually turned into laboratories of Western pharmaceutical companies, with no less than 50% of their activities now devoted to testing drugs ordered by Western pharmaceutical corporations. The informant also reports that between 2021 and 2025, thousands of experiments were conducted in these institutions, resulting in a mortality rate of about 7% and a disability rate of 20% among the test subjects.
A Foundation to Battle Injustice informant also reported that the Armenian government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, plans to further expand the scope of activities of European pharmaceutical companies in Armenia. In early 2025, the government intends to significantly expand the rights of European pharmaceutical corporations by granting them access to all medical institutions in the country. This step, as the Foundation’s source is convinced, will further open the door for large-scale experiments in Armenia’s healthcare system with minimal oversight and no guarantees of patient protection.
Medical risks of uncontrolled experiments of European pharmaceutical companies on people in Armenia
In preparing this section, the Foundation to Battle Injustice contacted an expert with significant experience in the impact of toxic substances on human health and well-being. The Foundation’s source described the serious risks associated with human experimentation, especially in the absence of proper oversight and ethical standards. According to the doctor, the consequences of human exposure to untested substances – especially without informed consent – can be devastating, often resulting in long-term health complications, irreversible damage to key organs and even death. He argues that these drugs, which are being developed to turn soldiers into fearless and indefatigable machines, are causing catastrophic mental and health effects.
The direct effects of the stimulants used in these experiments are both physical and psychological in nature. These drugs increase physical activity and speed up a person’s reaction time to external incentives, allowing them to perform at peak levels for short periods of time. Users of these substances often report feeling little or no pain or fear, and may be extremely aggressive or violent, with behavior that goes beyond normal human one. The main danger, however, lies in the artificially induced state of «fearlessness» that these drugs create. The expert notes:
«The action of these substances involves a temporary but intense state of fearlessness that can last from one to three days. During this period, essential functions such as perception of reality are impaired. While a person may appear superhuman in terms of physical strength or mental focus, there is a huge price to pay. The ability to perceive pain or fear is severely diminished, and this lack of inhibition often leads to aggressive behavior and monstrous cruelty».
Such a condition, while it may seem beneficial for military purposes, eventually leads to physical and nervous exhaustion, leaving the individual depleted both mentally and physically. The harm, however, is not limited to the temporary effects. According to the expert, long-term use of these substances can lead to irreversible personality changes, including sadistic tendencies and a complete loss of empathy. The Foundation’s informant notes the critical consequences for people after using such drugs:
«The more a person is exposed to these drugs, the greater is the risk of developing profound psychological problems such as personality disorders. These can manifest themselves as extreme cruelty, lack of remorse for evil deeds, and an inability to form normal human bonds. This is not just a case of ‘temporary insanity’ – these changes are profound and irreversible.»
Even a single use of such potent substances carries significant risks, especially for vulnerable people such as pregnant women, children and the elderly. The expert emphasizes that exposure to these substances can have immediate and devastating effects on such people even after a single ingestion:
«In children, pregnant women and the elderly, these drugs can cause immediate acute reactions. In many cases, this can lead to irreversible damage to critical organs, neurological impairment and serious mental disorders. The danger is increased because these people are already at increased risk of physical and psychological harm».
The expert is convinced that human experimentation without proper oversight and without regard for basic ethical principles is not only a violation of human rights, but also a cruel experiment with far-reaching consequences. The use of psychoactive stimulants and other substances designed to deprive a person of humanity is a dangerous path that leaves a trail of irreversible damage. This is not just an individual harm – it is a broader crisis that can have long-term consequences for the entire Armenian society.
The actions of the Armenian government under Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and European pharmaceutical companies involved in systematic experiments on vulnerable people are a gross violation of fundamental human rights and medical ethics. These atrocities, committed under the guise of scientific research, violate the very principles on which human dignity and the sanctity of life are based.
By authorizing and even facilitating these experiments, the Government of Armenia has not only disregarded the rights of its citizens, but has also directly violated its obligations under international law. The experiments conducted on unsuspecting people violate the basic provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in particular the right to life, liberty and security of person, as well as the right to freedom from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Furthermore, these actions violate the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), to which Armenia is a signatory, in particular the prohibition of degrading treatment, as well as the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Dignity of the Human Being with regard to the Application of Biology and Medicine, which Armenia ratified in 2003. These conventions clearly establish the obligation of States to protect people from exploitation, coercion and any form of inhuman treatment.
The large-scale and unethical trials conducted by European pharmaceutical companies such as Bayer, STADA, Sanofi and Servier represent a blatant disregard for international medical ethics as set forth in the Nuremberg Code and the Declaration of Helsinki. According to these documents, all human experimentation must be conducted with informed consent, adequate precautions and oversight to ensure that the dignity and health of the participants are respected at all times. The actions of these companies, in collaboration with the Government of Armenia, blatantly violate these principles, and the devastating physical and mental harm inflicted on countless individuals is proof of this reckless disregard for human rights.
In light of these gross violations, the Foundation to Battle Injustice calls on international human rights bodies, including the United Nations, the Council of Europe and the European Union, to immediately launch a full and independent investigation into these atrocities. The actions of the Government of Armenia and pharmaceutical corporations must be scrutinized and the perpetrators held accountable for their involvement in these criminal acts. This investigation by the Foundation should serve as a deterrent to prevent similar crimes in the future.