Nepal’s drug regulatory authority, the Department of Drug Administration has blacklisted 16 Indian pharmaceutical companies for failing to comply with World Health Organisation (WHO) drug manufacturing standards.
What happened?
The list of the companies that do not comply with WHO standards were published after inspection of the manufacturing facilities of the pharmaceutical companies that had applied to export their products to Nepal, according to the Department officials.
The list includes Divya Pharmacy, the manufacturer of Yoga Guru Ramdev’s Patanjali products which was identified following inspections of their manufacturing facilities by a team from the Department in April and July.
Period of inspection
In April and July, the Department sent a team of drug inspectors to India to inspect the manufacturing facilities of pharmaceutical companies that had applied to supply their products to Nepal.
The Department has issued a notice recalling the medicines produced by these companies and prohibiting their import or distribution in Nepal.
Local agents in Nepal, who had been supplying the affected medicines have also been instructed to immediately recall them.
Other entrants to the list
The list further includes:
- Radiant Parenterals
- Mercury Laboratories
- Alliance Biotech
- Captab Biotec
- Aglowmed
- Zee Laboratories
- Daffodils Pharmaceuticals
- GLS Pharma
- Unijules Life Science
- Concept Pharmaceuticals
- Shree Anand Life Sciences
- IPCA Laboratories
- Cadila Healthcare
- Dial Pharmaceuticals
- Mackur Laboratories
India-produced hand sanitizers
The Department also issued another notice on December 19, recalling 500 ml and 5-litre hand sanitizers produced by India’s Global Healthcare and prohibiting their use, sale, or distribution.
Organizations have been requested to not use, sell, or distribute the affected hand sanitizers.
The actions were taken following inspections of the manufacturing facilities of the concerned companies that had applied to export their products to Nepal.
