Boehringer Denies Move To Pull Out Of India

The sale was only of the Thane bulk drugs plant, and the Indian subsidiary still retains the Mahad plant where formulations are produced, the sources said. Besides, its marketing division sells speciality medicines in the country.

The companys Thane unit was hit by adverse publicity following the death of four people who had taken Comsat Forte tablets. The plants sale, coming a few days after the state drugs controller ordered its closure and the abrupt return of its expatriate chief of Indian operations, had fuelled speculation that the German major was pulling out of the country altogether.

The expatriate chief executive returned to Canada as his contract had expired and not because of the Comsat Forte controversy, it is said. The company would face all challenges to clear its name, the sources clarified.

 

The sources, who did not want to be named, said the Thane plant sale was on the cards for a long time as the main product there, cloramphenicol, had become uneconomical to manufacture owing to low Indian and international prices. The drugs controller had ordered the closure of only the Comsat Forte product line and not the entire plant, they said in support of their contention.