INDIA
Nepal blacklists 16 Indian pharma firms, including Divya Pharmacy, a manufacturer of Patanjali products.
Nepal's drug regulatory authority, the Department of Drug Administration, has announced that it has blacklisted 16 Indian pharmaceutical companies for failing to comply with World Health Organisation (WHO) drug manufacturing standards. The companies, which include Divya Pharmacy, the manufacturer of Yoga Guru Ramdev's Patanjali products, were identified following inspections of their manufacturing facilities by a team from the Department in April and July.
The Department has issued a notice recalling the medicines produced by these companies and prohibiting their import or distribution in Nepal. The notice also instructed local agents in Nepal, who had been supplying the affected medicines, to immediately recall them.
List of 16 blacklisted Indian pharmaceutical companies:
In addition to Divya Pharmacy, the list of blacklisted companies 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, and Mackur Laboratories.
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. The notice requested that organizations not use, sell, or distribute the affected hand sanitizers. These actions were taken following inspections of the manufacturing facilities of the pharmaceutical companies that had applied to export their products to Nepal.