Barely four months after China-made fake drugs with deceptive ?Made in India? labels were seized in Nigeria, more cases of spurious drugs are surfacing in the Indian market with alleged links to China.
Recently, seized samples of human immunoglobin injection used in the case of multiple sclerosis, bone marrow transplantation, chronic B-cell lymphocytic leukemia, pediatric HIV-1 infection among others, which were declared spurious by the drug regulator office in Rajasthan were allegedly manufactured by a Chinese company.
?The spurious drug in question was found to be sold under the brandname Iviglob Ex, which in turn is imported and marketed in India by Mumbai-based VHB Life Sciences Ltd. A case has been lodged against Mumbai-based Shri Vinayak Trading Company, which was detected in the supply chain selling the spurious drug,? according to a health ministry official. Further investigation in the case is on.
The legal counsel of VHB Life Sciences told FE , ?The spurious drug in question was not marketed by us, nor was it sourced from the manufacturer that we import our drugs from. It was a case of counterfeit drug as it had VHB?s label but wasn?t our product. It is the distributor Shri Vinayak Trading Co, which has been charged with putting a wrong label on the cartons?. He added although the case is yet to reach its final conclusion, the food and drug authority of Rajasthan has found 28 points of differentiations between the spurious samples and VHB?s original product. The spurious drug in question was found in Jaipur. But the location where the drug was manufactured remains still unclear. VHB Life Sciences is a 63-year-old company with an annual turnover close to Rs 300 crore.
The government is also learnt to have unearthed four more cases of bulk drug imports, which were traced to unregistered sources in China. ?The Indian players, who may be questioned in this case include Sheetal Pharma, Envee Drugs Private Ltd, CJ Shah and JB Khokhani and Co. The case has already been handed over to CBI for further investigation,? the ministry official added.
Earlier in June this year, the Nigerian drug regulator seized large consignments of fake anti-malarial generic pharmaceuticals labelled `Made in India?, which were later, found to be produced in China. Paul Orhii, DG, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Nigeria told FE in August, ?The Chinese government has launched an in-depth investigation to zero down on the companies involved. China has identified 50 companies that could be involved in the whole racket.?
In September, China formally apologised to Nigeria, taking responsibility for export of fake drugs including some labelled as ?Made in India? by some Chinese firms and assured to take punitive action against those involved in the scandal.