Chinese drug supervision authorities revoked the business
licenses of 160 drug manufacturers and retailers in a bid to clean
up the pharmaceutical industry in 2006.
Chinese drug supervision authorities have inspected
pharmaceutical companies across China over the past year and
punished those companies that had irregular purchase and sale
records, advertised illegally, worked beyond their business scope,
and leased or transferred their licenses without authorization,
said Wang Lifeng, director of the Market Supervision Department
under the State Food and Drug Administration.
Chinese drug supervision authorities inspected 3,972 drug
wholesalers and 40,152 drug retailers in 2006. The authorities also
revoked the Good Sales Practice certificates, a must for the drug
manufacturers, of 135 companies.
China is expected to blacklist drug manufacturers and retailers
who illegal advertise, provide false information or exaggerates the
benefits of their products, said Wang at a conference in Nanchang
on Tuesday.
The blacklisted companies will be published on the government's
websites, said Wang.
A survey by the State Food and Drug Administration of 466
newspapers and 55 local TV stations from January to November last
year discovered 48,990 illegal advertisements for drug
products.
(Xinhua News Agency February 1, 2007)