BENGALURU, Sept 27 (Askume) – India’s drug regulator has discovered more than 50 substandard or counterfeit medicines, including some batches of widely used antacids and paracetamol, according to government documents.
The regulatory agency Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation releases a monthly list of substandard or counterfeit drugs being sold in the country after regular testing by various agencies across the country.
According to the August list, regulators found some of the drugs to be of “substandard quality”, including Alkem Laboratories’ (ALKE.NS) popular antacid Pan-D, Hetero’s anti-infective Cepodem and Shelcal manufactured by privately run Pure & Cure. The brand of vitamin and calcium tablets produced by Healthcare includes a variety of antibiotics.
Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd SUN.NS separately notified regulators of a batch of counterfeit Pentocid, a popular Indian antacid brand, Pantoprazole. The agency said it was investigating the matter.
The companies also reported to regulators fake or “counterfeit” batches of Sun Pharma’s drug Pulmosil and Glenmark Pharmaceuticals’ drug used to treat pulmonary hypertension .
“When a drug is found to be non-compliant with quality standards, the drug regulatory agency will issue a notice to the manufacturer and request the manufacturer to have the product batches examined and recalled,” said Rajiv Singhal, general secretary of the All India Chemists and Pharmacists Organisation, an organisation of drug retailers. “The company also conducts its own tests on the remaining samples to check the possibility of counterfeit drugs.”
Neither company immediately responded to a Askume request for comment.
Sales of gastrointestinal drugs, anti-diabetic drugs, vitamins and nutritional supplements contributed the most to the domestic pharmaceutical market growth in August, according to research firm Pharmarack.
India, one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical producers and exporters, is working to restore trust after Indian-made cough syrup was linked to the deaths of children in Gambia, Uzbekistan and Cameroon .
