Govt likely to push drugmakers to upgrade plants

The Centre has refused drugmakers’ requests to extend a year-end deadline for them to upgrade their manufacturing facilities to international standards, four people aware of the matter said, amid public anger over the recent deaths of at least 24 children who consumed locally-produced cough syrup.

- Reuters

New Delhi had in late 2023 ordered pharmaceutical companies to ensure their plants meet World Health Organization-recommended standards, which would require them to invest in protocols to prevent cross-contamination and enable batch-testing of samples, among other measures. The mandate was established after India-made cough syrups were linked to the deaths of over 140 children in Africa and Central Asia, severely denting India’s image as a “pharmacy of the world.”