Regulators in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh are shutting down 12 API-producing plants there, saying the manufacturers ran afoul of local environmental regulations.
The Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board says the pharma manufacturing plants violated local emissions laws and ordered them closed by July 23, FiercePharmaManufacturing reports. Two of the plants belong to Aurobindo Pharma; three to Hetero Drugs; and one each to Cirex Pharmaceuticals, Covalent Laboratories, Divis Pharmaceuticals, Sri Krishna Pharmaceuticals, Inogent Laboratories and SMS Pharma, according to Outsourcing-Pharma.
The move could put a dent in Indian API production as the companies appeal the board's ruling. The companies have scheduled a hearing with the regulator to make their cases, with Aurobindo saying its two Andhra Pradesh plants are among the safest in the state and SMS promising to take the necessary steps to keep its manufacturing plant open, according to India's The Economic Times.
The state's board instituted stricter environmental restrictions last year and has been squabbling with drug manufacturers ever since, threatening 6 plants with closure in 2011 amid accusations of failing to properly dispose of chemicals, FiercePharmaManufacturing reports.
- here's FiercePharmaManufacturing's story
- check out The Economic Times' report
- get more from Outsourcing-Pharma