Crackdown on fake products in India revokes licenses of some pharmaceutical companies, sources say
NEW DELHI: Indian authorities have revoked or suspended the licenses of some domestic pharmaceutical companies as part of an action taken against 76 pharmaceutical companies this month, government sources said Thursday (30 March).
India is known as the “pharmacy of the world,” and pharmaceutical exports have more than doubled in the past decade to reach US$24.5 billion between 2021 and 22.
But that image was shattered last year when at least 70 children in The Gambia and 19 children in Uzbekistan died in connection with drugs made by India-based pharmaceutical companies.
Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya confirmed the crackdown but did not provide details about the companies that took action.
“There are more than 10,500 pharmaceutical companies in the US,” Mandaviya told reporters at the event.
Over the past 15 days, some Indian pharmaceutical companies have had their licenses revoked, some suspended and others given notice, a source with firsthand knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
The source, who did not want to be identified because he was not authorized to speak to the media, declined to name the company.
The federal government has said it will spend $79.6 million to strengthen the drug regulatory system after the World Health Organization (WHO) raised concerns about a domestic cough syrup linked to child deaths in the Gambia and Uzbekistan.
