India Abandons Trade Talks to Protest EU Drugs Ban

The Indian government has canceled talks with the EU’s chief trade negotiator to protest the European Commission’s ban of scores of generic drugs tested by Hyderabad-based GVK Biosciences.

In a statement issued last Wednesday, India’s Commerce Ministry says it is disappointed by the ban and notes that most of the drugs have been in the EU market for many years with no adverse events reported by member states.

The ban, imposed late last month, followed a recommendation by the European Medicines Agency to suspend sales and distribution of 700 formulations of more than four dozen drugs that were approved based on manipulated echocardiogram data during bioequivalence testing.

India could lose $1 billion in drug exports during this fiscal year as a result of the ban.

Commission spokesman Daniel Rosario says EU officials hope to reach a solution. The Aug. 28 meeting was supposed to have explored the possibility of resuming free trade agreement discussions. — Jonathon Shacat