Ranbaxy issue resolved, informs Apollo Pharmacy

A week after issuing "cautionary advisory" against drugs made by Ranbaxy Laboratories, leading pharmacy chain Apollo Pharmacy on Thursday said it has resolved the matter and will continue to sell the drugmaker's medicines from its outlets across the country.

"We are glad that this issue has been resolved. We will continue to stock and dispense Ranbaxy products across all our pharmacies," Apollo Pharmacy said in a statement.

Last week, it had issued a “cautionary advisory” against drugs made by Ranbaxy Laboratories. Questions have been raised over drugs supplied by Ranbaxy after the company pleaded guilty to “felony charges” and agreed to pay $500 million penalty in May for violation of approved drug manufacturing standards at its two plants in India.

The pharmacy chain, part of Chennai-based Apollo Hospitals, said it has been working with Ranbaxy over the past week to validate the necessary documentation in line with quality standards followed by international quality certifying authorities.

"Ranbaxy has provided us batch quality certification for all their products certified by the government approved third-party certifying laboratories. The reports completely satisfy the quality norms stipulated by department of pharmaceuticals, government of India as well as the Drug and Cosmetic Act 1940," the spokesperson said.

Apollo Pharmacy said it has also understood the stance of the DGHS of India in this regard and received confirmation from them that there are no quality issues in the Ranbaxy products currently marketed in India.

Apollo Pharmacy has over 1,500 stores across the country.