Marion Biotech’s Production Licence Suspended: Uzbekistan Cough Syrup Deaths

Following the alleged link between the deaths of children in Uzbekistan and Marion Biotech’s spurious cough syrup, the production licence of Noida-based pharmaceutical firm Marion Biotech has been suspended, said an Uttar Pradesh drug official, as per media reports. 

However, the probe is still ongoing, and the results of Marion Biotech’s controversial cough syrup are still awaited.

On December 29, a team of central agencies along with the Uttar Pradesh Drug Department had been deployed to investigate the firm's office. It has taken six more samples for testing.

According to an official involved in the investigation, the company representatives failed to produce documents related to the production of "Dok-1 Max" cough syrup, causing the government to immediately halt production.

On January 10, a written suspension order was issued to the firm, as acknowledged by the firm itself, as the official stated to the media. Moreover, the officer said that the samples were taken by the central agencies and their results are still awaited.

The official further conveyed to the media that Marion Biotech did not sell 'Doc-1 Max' (the cough syrup) in India. It has only exported it to Uzbekistan. It is estimated that the company has exported close to 1 lakh syrups in 45 days.