The state Drug Control Administration has detected huge stocks of spurious products of two well-known brands belonging to top Gujarat based pharma companies. The seizure is a result of the ongoing raids being carried out by the Task Force against spurious drugs.

According to M Venkat Reddy, Joint Director, Drug Control Administration, in one case the stocks seized contained no active ingredients whereas in the other case , spurious products contained only 50 percent of the ingredient claimed on the label.

The officials have detected a batch of Ciprobid-500 tablets, an antibiotic, containing no active ingredient. The fake manufacturer had used the name of a licensed manufacturer, Zydus Health Care, Ahmedabad. Investigations are on to identify the fake manufacturer and if the efforts fail, the stockists are likely to be prosecuted. The DCA is trying to call back all stocks of Ciprobid-500 belonging to batch No MB 1438, manufactured in February 2002, with September 2004 as expiry date.

In the other case, the Task Force detected a batch of Dilzem 30 tablets, indicated for blood pressure, as spurious containing only 50% of the active ingredient claimed on the label. The fake manufacturer has used the name of Torrent Pharma on the label, which is actually the licensed manufacturer of the product. The batch number of this drug is 1662034-A, manufactured in October 2002 with expiry date in September 2006.

These drugs were found to be stocked at Sri Ganesh Agencies and Jyoti Medical Hall, located at Abids. The spurious Ciprobid-500 was also detected at Guntur. Show-cause notices have been already issued to the stockists who held these stocks. Last week, spurious drugs worth Rs 50,000 were seized by the DCA officials.

This year, three spurious drug manufacturers have been convicted for a period of five years following raids by the DCA Task Force for stocking and supplying fake medicines. The raids throughout the state are being coordinated by P Ananthasayanam Reddy, Additional Director-General, DCA.