The Drug Controller General of India has cancelled the licences of 18 pharmaceutical companies under the charges of manufacturing spurious drugs. The decision was taken after examining 76 companies in 20 states across India, in the drive to identify companies making spurious drugs.
The majority of the companies are based in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The drive was carried out under the guidance of the DCGI action against 70 companies in Himachal Pradesh, 45 in Uttarakhand, and 23 in Madhya Pradesh. The manufacturing licence of Himalaya Meditech Pvt Ltd was suspended on December 30, 2022. On February 7, permission to produce 12 of its products was also stopped.
The drive was planned following reports of deaths due to spurious or below-standard drugs received by the DCGI. Zydus Life Sciences based in Gujarat withdrew more than 35,000 bottles of a generic medicine used to treat Gout, from the American market. The medicine failed tests carried out in America. Another company based in Chennai had withdrawn eye drops from the US market.