The Nigerian National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has blacklisted Gujarat-based pharma firm Mars Remedies for providing 'substandard antibiotics'.
NAFDAC is a federal agency under the Federal Ministry of Health that is responsible for regulating and controlling the manufacture, importation, exportation, advertisement, distribution, sale and use of food, drugs, cosmetics, medical devices, chemicals and packaged water in Nigeria.
As per the report published by The Print, the company got blacklisted for manufacturing “substandard and falsified” antibiotic tablets named Ciprofloxacin (500mg tablets).
Ciprofloxacin is an antibiotic used to treat a number of bacterial infections. This includes bone and joint infections, intra abdominal infections, a certain type of infectious diarrhoea, respiratory tract infections, skin infections, typhoid fever, and urinary tract infections, among others.
In a letter written to Mars Remedies on 9 October, the NAFDAC communicated the decision and also marked to Dr V.G. Somani, Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI).
When contacted, Mars Remedies did not respond to The Print.
As per the report by Express Pharma, the company delivered yellow coloured tablets with the white coloured tablets of Ciprofloxacin. However, as per the agency’s record, it has registered white coloured tablets. After inspecting the package received from Mars Remedies, the agency realised the change in colour which was not communicated to them before the changes were made. Thus the decision to blacklist the firm was taken as per the provisions of NAFDAC Act.