Nepal blacklists 16 Indian pharmaceutical companies including Divya Pharmacy linked to Patanjali products

Nepal’s Drug Regulatory Authority has blacklisted 16 Indian drug companies, including Yoga guru Ramdev’s Patanjali’s Divya Pharmacy, saying they failed to comply with World Health Organization (WHO) drug manufacturing standards. Stayed The Drug Administration Department, in a notice issued on December 18, has asked the local agent supplying these drugs to Nepal to withdraw the products immediately. According to the notice issued by the department, medicines manufactured by the listed companies cannot be imported or distributed in Nepal.

According to department officials, the list of companies that did not comply with WHO standards was published after inspections of manufacturing facilities of pharmaceutical companies that had applied to export their products to Nepal. 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.

Apart from Divya Pharmacy, the list also includes Radiant Parenterals Ltd., Mercury Laboratories Ltd., Alliance Biotech, Captab Biotech, Aglomed Ltd., Zee Laboratories, Daffodils Pharmaceuticals, GLS Pharma, Unijules Life Science, Concept Pharmaceuticals, Shree Anand Life Sciences, IPCA Laboratories, Cadila Healthcare Ltd, Dial Pharmaceuticals and Macur Laboratories. Similarly, in another notice issued on December 19, the department asked the distributors to recall 500 ml and 5 liters of hand sanitisers manufactured by India-based company Global Healthcare. The department has asked the concerned organizations not to use, sell or distribute hand sanitizers.