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Times of India
16 February 2011
By Kounteya Sinha
New Delhi, India

New Ingredients in Drug? Can’t Retail Under old Name
The government will no longer allow popular drugs to be sold under the same name if their active ingredients have been changed. Pharmaceutical companies will now have to also change the brand name of the drug.

This was decided by the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI), Dr Surinder Singh, in a meeting of the country’s Drugs Consultative Committee (DCC) on Tuesday. Officials said there have been several instances where the brand name has not been changed because of its popularity.

Meanwhile, India will decide the fate of three controversial drugs – Gatifloxacine, Tegaserod and Deanxit – in a meeting of the sub–committee of the Drug Technical Advisory Board on Thursday. They accumulate about Rs 70 crore annually.

The government also officially notified the banning of six drugs on February 10, including Nimesulide for children, Phenylpropanolamine, human placenta extracts, sibutramine and R sibutramine. "Manufacturers will have to withdraw all their stock from the market and license of manufacture for these drugs will be suspecded with immediete effect," Union health ministry sources told TOI.

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