India’s top drug regulatory agency violated laws and colluded with pharmaceutical companies to approve medicines without clinical trials, a parliamentary panel said in a report. The Central Drugs Standard Control Organization which oversees clinical trials and India’s 10,000 drugmakers, approved medicines from companies including Novartis AG (NOVN), GlaxoSmithKline Plc (GSK) and Mumbai-based Cipla Ltd. (CIPLA) without clinical trials required to be done in the country, the standing committee on health and family welfare said in a report tabled in parliament on May 8.
