Delhi HC extends stay on drug ban till March 28

The Delhi High Court on Monday extended the stay on the government's decision to ban 344 fixed drug combinations (FDCs) till the next hearing on March 28.

The government had banned these FDCs on March 10 after an expert panel found those to be lacking therapeutic effects as well as posing various health risks. Following this, around 20 drug companies moved the high court seeking revocation of the government's "arbitrary" decision.

According to an IMS Health analysis, the companies most affected are Pfizer, Abbott and Macleods Pharma.

While only six brands of Pfizer, including its popular cough syrups Corex and Corex-DX, have been banned, their sales were as much as Rs 424 crore between February 2015 and February 2016.

Abbott saw 36 of its brands banned, which had annual sales of Rs 400 crore in the same period.

Similarly, 30 brands by Macleods Pharma with annual sales of Rs 400 crore have been banned.

Lupin's anti-diabetic drug Gluconorm-PG, which had sales of Rs 46.5 crore in the said period, has also been banned.

GlaxoSmithKline's four brands have been banned - Crocin Cold n' Flu; Piriton-CS; Dilo-DX; and Piriton Expect. These four drugs had annual sales of Rs 58 crore.