Hyderabad: Poor quality anti-cancer drug Vincristine, imported from China and used as an active ingredient by 12 pharmaceutical companies was seized during raids on the firms by the Drug Control Authority of Telangana.
Five samples have been sent to the Central Drug Laboratory for analysis.
There were constant complaints against these drugs by patients and oncologists who stated that they were not effective. Due to this reason, checks were conducted on February 17 and 18. The DCA said that it was found that the firms were stocking anti-cancer drugs along with other excipients and did not store them separately. Storing it separately is important to maintain its efficacy.
At the same time, they didn’t provide bio-safety cabin testing for cytotoxic elements in the laboratory. They also failed to maintain proper analytical records of the drugs, the DCA said.
The raided companies
Hetero Labs at Khazipally and Jadcharla
Dr Reddy Labs at FTO and CTO-I, Bolaram
Natco Pharma, at Kothur and Nagarjunasagar
MSN Labs, Kardanur
Shilpa Medicare, Jadcharla
Laurus Labs, Shamirpet
SP Accura Labs, Shamirpet
Celon Labs, ALEAP, Gajularamaram
Therdose Formulations, ALEAP, Gajularamaram
