INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
China said valsartan heart drug made by Zhejiang Huahai could pose cancer risks (Representational)Shanghai: China's health regulator said
on Monday all domestic medical institutions must cooperate with authorities and not use the valsartan blood and heart drug made by Zhejiang
Huahai Pharmaceutical that could pose cancer risks.The bulk manufacturer of the drug said earlier this month that it was recalling the
valsartan drug sold in the United States after the European Medicines Agency found that it was tainted with an impurity linked to cancer.In
a notice posted on its website, China's National Health and Family Planning Commission said the recalled drug, commonly used to treat
patients with high blood pressure, should not be used for the diagnosis and treatment of diseases.European regulators have said that the
problem likely dates to changes introduced into manufacturing processes at the company in 2012, suggesting that many patients could have
been exposed to cancer risk.The drug has already been withdrawn in the United States and Europe and China's drug regulator said on Sunday
that Huahai had completed the withdrawal in China of the raw materials used to produce the drug.The Chinese health regulator also said that
there were six local companies that used valsartan made by Huahai
Five of these companies had products on the market and have since issued recalls, it added.The sixth firm, the Hunan branch of Zhuzhou
Qianjin Pharmaceutical, had not yet shipped out its products, the regulator said
The company said in a statement that it returned Huahai's valsartan earlier this month and that none of its products were affected by the
product recalls.Huahai said on Monday that its other products did not contain the impurity known as NDMA, which is classified as a probable
human carcinogen, and that it would continue to improve its systems to prevent similar incidents from happening.© Thomson Reuters
2018(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by TheIndianSubcontinent staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
