Date:06/04/2005 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2005/04/06/stories/2005040602151200.htm

Back Nigeria blacklists 11 Indian drug cos

P.T. Jyothi Datta

Mumbai , April 5

THE bogey of a fake medicines has surfaced again, but this time, on Nigerian shores.

Eleven Indian companies have been blacklisted by the Nigerian regulatory authority for the alleged supply of counterfeit drugs.

However, the Indian Pharmaceutical Export Promotion Council (Pharmexcil) has urged the Union Commerce Ministry and the Indian Embassy in Nigera to intervene and resolve the issue, after ensuring that the blacklisted companies get a fair hearing.

The issue has serious ramifications, as Indian drug companies are competitive in the global market and allegations of counterfeit can result in the entire segment being tarred with the same brush, observed an industry analyst. The recent development has a precedent — the Nigerian regulatory authority has, in the past, blacklisted 19 companies, of which 15 were from India and the rest from China.

In the recent incident, the Nigerian regulatory authority or the National Agency for Food & Drug Administration & Control (NAFDAC) put 11 Indian companies and one Pakistani company on the alert list.

The companies are: Kamala Overseas Bombay, Vardhman Export A-188 TTC, Unibios Lab, Shreechem Pharmaceuticals, Merit Organics, Milan Laboratories, Mission Pharmaceutical, Henkish Chemical, Intermed 4GK, Wardex Pharm and Dew Healthcare. The Pakistani company is Pliva Pakistan (Pvt) Ltd.

The NAFDAC's public notice warned its people about dealing with "some notorious foreign companies who persistently indulge in dumping fake and counterfeit drugs into the country".

After a meeting with representatives of the blacklisted companies, the Pharmexcil's Chairman, Mr D.B. Mody, told Business Line there was no clarity on why they had been blacklisted.

"The authority should have raised the issue with the companies, but that was not done. They have been blacklisted without being given a hearing. These companies have been operating in the Nigerian market for some time now. Their products are checked by an independent agency and are cleared from the Indian port only when they have the Clean Findings Report of Inspection and Analysis," he pointed out.

If there has been a discrepancy, he said, Pharmexcil would support the action of the Nigerian authority. But the companies first need to be given a fair hearing, he said. "The products could have come through illegal routes from countries neighbouring Nigeria," he countered.

Details were not available on the size of the consignment seized by the Nigerian authority.