Govt cancels licenses of 18 pharma companies allegedly manufacturing spurious drugs
1 min read 28 Mar 2023, 08:03 PM ISTAs many as 76 pharma companies were inspected across 20 states/ UTs by joint team of the state & central drug regulators
PremiumNEW DELHI : The central government has canceled the license of 18 pharma companies for allegedly manufacturing spurious drugs. This comes in the backdrop of extensive inspection carried under the supervision of Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI),an official said on Tuesday.
As many as 76 pharma companies were inspected across 20 states/ UTs by joint team of the state & central drug regulators.
As a part of major inspection drive, the union government has identified around 203 pharma companies.
“Under phase 1, we have taken action against 76 pharma companies in the last 15 days. Their license have been canceled allegedly for manufacturing spurious/sub standard drugs and violating Good Manufacturing Practices guidelines. The inspection was conducted jointly by state and central drug regulator team," an official.
Around 26 drug makers have been issued show cause notices.
According to the official, majority of the pharma companies under government scanner are from Himachal Pradesh (70) Uttarakhand (45) & Madhya Pradesh (23).
Meanwhile, the union health ministry is actively preparing regulations for e-pharmacy stores with stronger actions against them. This is being done due to rising data privacy concerns, fraudulent practices and irrational sale of drugs.
The fresh regulations are likely to be incorporated in revised version of New Drugs, Medical Devices and Cosmetics Bill, 2023.
