The central government has cancelled the license of 18 pharma companies for allegedly manufacturing spurious drugs. This comes in the backdrop of extensive inspection carried out under the supervision of the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI).

As many as 76 pharma companies were inspected across 20 states/ UTs by a joint team of the state and central drug regulators.

As a part of a major inspection drive, the union government has identified around 203 pharma companies.

According to an official, under phase 1, we have taken action against 76 pharma companies in the last 15 days. Their license has been cancelled allegedly for manufacturing spurious/substandard drugs and violating Good Manufacturing Practices guidelines. The inspection was conducted jointly by the state and central drug regulator teams.