FDA Suspends Pfizer Wholesale License Amid Counterfeit Drug Investigation

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) suspended the wholesale license for Pfizer's C&F Depot in Nelamangala taluk, Bengaluru Rural district. This action followed an August 18 raid on an unlicensed facility near Bidadi. Officials seized medicines, machinery, and packaging materials during the investigation, which was linked to a suspected counterfeit medicine network. Preliminary findings indicated the premises were allegedly used to procure low-cost medicines from neighboring states, repackage them, and relabel them as expensive life-saving drugs under the Pfizer brand.

The FDA action was part of a broader investigation into spurious drugs, where 16 entities had licenses cancelled and eight others suspended in Karnataka. The investigation involved concerns over the introduction of expired products into the supply chain, including the seizure of 30 boxes of expired medicines at the premises.