DCGI News: Govt cancels licences of 18 pharma companies for ‘manufacturing spurious medicines’ | India News

NEW DELHI: The government on Tuesday canceled the licenses of 18 pharmaceutical companies for manufacturing counterfeit drugs. drugs after the inspection of Medicine General Control of India (DCHOLD) across 76 companies across 20 states.
“The Great Repression Is Going On pharmaceutical company nationwide in relation to the production of counterfeit drugs,” the ANI news agency cited sources.
“Action against 70 companies in Himachal Pradesh and 45 in Uttarakhand and 23 in Madhya Pradesh in the government crackdown on companies producing counterfeit medicines,” it added.
The crackdown comes as the government is seeking to tighten the noose on e-pharmaceuticals for conducting business allegedly in violation of the rules.
A series of e-pharmacies including Netmeds, Tata 1mg and PharmEasy were notified last month by the Directorate General of Drugs Control of India (DCGI) for carrying out activities contrary to the Medicines and Cosmetics Act. 1940. The company has been trying to get an audience with the health department since then, has yet to be granted.
Three senior Marion Biotech employees were arrested by Noida police after the FIR charged them with manufacturing and selling counterfeit drugs.
Marion Biotech came under scrutiny in December 2022 for reports of child deaths in Uzbekistan, after which India’s Central Drug Standards Control Organization (CDSCO) started investigating the matter and discovered shows 22 out of 36 samples “not up to standard” (adulterated and fake).