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Written By: Editorial Team | Published : April 7, 2014 12:20 PM IST
In a move that has taken the Indian pharmaceutical industry by storm, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. has agreed to buy Ranbaxy Insustries Ltd. for a $3.2. billion according to an Economic Times report. Previously, Ranbaxy has been in the news for all the wrong reasons and recently its Toansa facility in Punjab was banned from distributing drugs in the American market.
India's health minister, Ghulam Nabi Azad though said that politics and business interests may have been behind the ban. 'There are several reasons behind this ban, I don't want to dwell on it. There is politics and business interests of multi-national companies, which find it difficult to take on competition from Indian companies.', Azad was quoted as saying by the Indian Science Journal website.
The Ranbaxy story till now
The Ranbaxy episode started in September 2008 when the USFDA issued two Warning Letters to Ranbaxy Laboratories and import alert for generic drugs produced at two different plants. However, in June 2008, Daiichi Sankyo, a major Japanese company had procured a majority in Ranbaxy in a deal believed to be worth $4.6 billion dollar. A fortnight ago, Ranbaxy offered to pay a $500 million fine for selling adulterated drugs and pleaded guilty to seven criminal counts including fudging of data, intention to defraud and failing to report that its drug didn't meet specifications. Since then a lot of dirty linen has been washed in public with the Japanese company accusing the Singh brothers the former owners of Ranbaxy of concealing and misrepresenting critical information regarding the USFDA investigations. Malvinder Singh, the former Chairman however eschewed all guilt and claimed the Japanese company had mismanaged the company.
He said, 'There was no misleading Daiichi approached us when they came, US FDA investigations were on. They knew about it and it was public information. So there was nothing that was hidden. Whatever they wanted and asked for was shown to them. They did a due diligence. Who would risk $5 billion without a due diligence?'
Meanwhile the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) Dr GN Singh said that all the approvals given to Indian drugs manufactured by Ranbaxy Laboratories were in order. As per the laws, there was no indication of any company violating the Indian laws, including Ranbaxy. However, Dr Singh admitted that all matters including approvals in the past would be examined again. Dr Singh added that appropriate action would be taken and a special team would be set up to examine the case. They would send officials to the US if the situation demands it. 'My most important concern is to assure the safety and efficacy of the drugs in India and action will be taken as per the Drugs and Cosmetics (D&C) Act, not just against Ranbaxy but other companies also if found guilty,' Dr Singh had told Pharmabiz.
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