DCGI raids 76 pharma firms in 20 States last 2 weeks; 18 firms licenses cancelled

In the DCGI crackdown against 76 pharma companies across 20 States in the past two weeks, licences of 18 companies have been cancelled, said top sources in the Health Ministry, reports EV Bharat's Gautam Debroy.

New Delhi: In the last two weeks, a major crackdown was launched against pharmaceutical companies producing spurious and substandard drugs. As part of this, the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), along with its regional counterparts conducted raids and search operations against 76 pharma companies in 20 States.

Following these raids, the licenses of 18 companies have been cancelled, top sources in the health ministry told ETV Bharat. Show-cause notices have been issued to 26 firms which were found to be in violation of the regulations. “In the first phase of such raids, a total of 203 companies have been identified for such nationwide operations,” sources said.

The product permission of three firms has been cancelled. “The raids will continue in the coming days,” sources said. Raids were carried out in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Puducherry, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal.

“We are determined to crack down against spurious and substandard drugs. These raids will continue and any company found to be noncompliant with good manufacturing practices will be shut down. We have identified 203 companies and the 76 initially raided are just the first phase. The product permissions of three firms have been cancelled and 26 other firms have been issued a show-cause notice,” an official privy to the development said.

Sources further said that the majority of such firms where spurious and substandard drugs were produced are Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Gujarat. The raids were conducted in 70 pharma companies in Himachal Pradesh, 45 in Uttarakhand, 23 in Madhya Pradesh and 16 in Gujarat.

Several cases have come to light, over the last few months, where Indian pharmaceutical products were found to be of insufficient quality after being exported to various nations. In Gambia, a cough syrup manufactured in India was linked to several deaths although the Indian government denied it, sources said.