India’s IPCA slumps after Global Fund stops buying its drugs
April 8, 2016, 5:15 am

Global Fund boasts of a robust advocacy base complete with celebrities and heads of state [Image: Global Fund]

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had sent a warning letter to IPCA in February for violating manufacturing standards at three of its production facilities.

IPCA Laboratories shares crashed 14 per cent to a 52-week low on Friday.

In a statement to the Indian stock exchange, IPCA said it has been barred from supplying the Global Fund with Artemisinin-based Combination Therapy (ACTs), an anti-malarial treatment.

The Global Fund “will not allocate any volume of ACTs to the company and … will only source ACTs from other pre-qualified suppliers that have no outstanding issues with the regulators,” added the statement.

The Global Fund, one of the largest funders of worldwide health programmes, is a critical player in the fight against Aids. The fund boasts of a robust advocacy base complete with celebrities and heads of state.

Dozens of Indian drug plants have faced warnings and bans in recent years, as the FDA improved inspections of foreign facilities.

The US FDA doesn’t say publicly why treatments don’t comply with its rules.

More than 40 per cent of the generic and over the counter medicines available in the United States comes from Indian facilities.

IPCA, a mid-sized drugmaker, has 16 manufacturing plants in India from where it supplies to more than 120 countries.

Some of India’s largest drugmakers have faced sanctions over issues from hygiene levels and concealment of data on failed tests to fabrication of records.

A Reuters report earlier this week cited an official document stating the Indian government’s decision to dismiss dozens of foreign-funded health experts working inside the government.

The move could further impact signature programmes to combat HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis.

The Reuters report quoted Finance Ministry officials saying the move was driven by fears that foreign agencies could use their consultants to influence policy in New Delhi.

TBP and Agencies