Telangana Drugs Control Administration (DCA) officials from Shamirpet Zone conducted a raid at Aspen Biopharma Labs located in Biotech Park on Tuesday and seized two bulk drugs, Ciprofloxacin Hydrochloride, of 110 kg., and Gatifloxacin Hydrochloride, 8.4 kg.
The facility, owned by Kadari Sateesh Reddy, the prime accused in the spurious anti-cancer drugs case detected in Machabollaram in December 2023, was found to be involved in illegal activities once again.
The seized drugs were manufactured during the ‘Stop Production Order’ period. The lab was issued a stop production order in March 2023 due to non-conformity with Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) and other provisions of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act. The firm was prohibited from any manufacturing activity, but it was found to have illegally produced the drugs during the prohibited period. The total value of the seized drugs during the raid is estimated to be ₹5.5 lakhs.
Further investigations will be conducted, and legal actions will be taken against the offenders, said a release issued by the DCA.
In a separate incident, the DCA officials also conducted a raid on the premises of Madhavaraju Birudaraju, a self-proclaimed rural medical practitioner in Warangal district on Tuesday. Mr. Birudaraju was found practising medicine without proper qualifications, and the DCA officials detected a significant stock of medicines at his clinic without a valid drug licence.
During the raid, DCA officials seized 48 varieties of medicines, including antibiotics, analgesics, cough syrups, anti-ulcer drugs, anti-hypertensives, and IV fluids, valued at ₹52,000. The clinic was found to have several higher generation antibiotics, posing potential risks to public health, including the emergence of antimicrobial resistance.
Samples have been lifted for analysis, and further investigations will be conducted. Legal actions will be taken against all offenders involved, said the release.
