The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Maharashtra, has seized stocks of spurious drugs, under the label of Eltroxin tablets and Magnex 1g injection, worth Rs 1.75 lakh along with machinery used for manufacturing the products from Mumbai.

According to FDA sources, a team of officials with the help of police has seized Eltroxin tablets (thyroxin sodium) claimed to be manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline Beecham, Nasik and Magnex 1g injection (cefoperazone and sulbactum) with label claiming to be manufactured by Astral Industries, Vadodara, which entitles marketing rights to Pfizer Ltd, from two persons in the first week of January.

In a test conducted by the government analyst later, the samples of Eltroxin tablets reported to be lacking IP and the Magnex injection was found to contain sulbactum 56.14 per cent and cefoperazone 173.6 per cent. The officials also sought expert opinion from GSK and Astral Industries, as the bottles and drugs were exact imitations of the original products of these companies, informed sources.

The drug authority seized 1900 bottles each of 100 tablets Eltroxin Lot NA 586 and NA 519, worth Rs 1,40600 and 48 1 g of Magnex 1 g Lot 620-39006 A, the third generation product worth Rs 15,024 from these persons, Satish R Lotlikar and Kannubhai Joshi. The culprits were found as employees of major pharmaceutical companies in the country, and the marketing of the products were organised under an incharge person of Broadway Chemist, Kherwadi, Bandra East, according to the FDA officials.

The authority has filed a case under Rule 17(b) of Drugs and Cosmetics Act, for manufacturing and marketing of spurious drugs. "With the raids in the consecutive days after the first seizure, we have made it sure that the products have not reached the market. The court, at present, has sent the culprits under police custody till January 29, but we are planning to seek more time to investigate on the source of machinery and raw materials," an FDA official told Pharmabiz.

With the help of police force, the drug authority has conducted raids in Broadway chemist, Bandra, and the residence of accused dealers, and seized sealing machine, empty bottles, over printed labels, cartons and related materials. The authority is seriously investigating the source of the drugs, as it is the part of its prime mission to curb spurious drugs in the state, FDA official added.