New Delhi: India’s apex drug regulator on Saturday confirmed detection of spurious anti-rabies shots, making it the second instance of discovering the counterfeit version of the indigenous vaccine Abhayrab within two yea…

New Delhi: India’s apex drug regulator on Saturday confirmed detection of spurious anti-rabies shots, making it the second instance of discovering the counterfeit version of the indigenous vaccine Abhayrab within two years.The Central Drug Standards and Control Organisation (CDSCO) said the spurious samples of Abhayrab were found by Delhi Police during a search at an unlicensed premise in north Delhi in April. Subsequent testing at Central Drug Laboratory (CDL), Kasauli have shown the vaccine as “misbranded and Not of Standard Quality.”The CDL recorded 17 differences between the counterfeit vial and genuine samples of the same batch supplied by the manufacturer to the laboratory for batch testing, Hyderabad-based vaccine maker Indian Immunological Limited said. Four persons have been arrested by Delhi Police.No shortage of anti-rabies vaccine, rabies immunoglobulin in India: JP NaddaFollowing the CDL report, the regulator wrote to the state drug control authorities on August 27, alerting the state units about the spurious product so that strict vigilance can be maintained over the movement, distribution and availability of this particular batch (KE25012) of the vaccine.The vaccine manufacturer said the particular batch was tested and released by the CDL in November 2025 and 83,370 vials was supplied to the hospitals and clinics through authorised distribution channel. “No market complaint has been received in respect of this batch,” the IILsaid.This is the second complaint about spurious Abhayrab within two years after Australian authorities in December 2025 alerted their citizens about multiple batches of counterfeit vaccine that have been in circulation since November 2023.But Indian Immunologicals stated that the counterfeit product flagged by the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation belonged to only one particular batch that was taken off the shelf.This time, the CDSCO said no part of the batch concerned was exported to any other country. “The seizure and subsequent regulatory action form part of the ongoing surveillance and enforcement mechanism of drug regulatory and law enforcement agencies to detect unauthorized manufacturing and distribution activities and prevent the circulation of misbranded and spurious medicines,” the regulator said.The IIL said every batch of Abhayrab was released for sale only after independent testing and vaccines administered at a hospital, clinic, government facility and licensed pharmacy passes through such a check process. It has submitted all the records to the CDSCO for further investigation.

Source: Deccan Herald