Karnataka Fake Drug Bust: Pfizer Warehouse Suspended, 16 Licences Cancelled Near Bengaluru

The Karnataka government has cancelled the licences of 16 pharmaceutical firms and suspended those of eight others, including the local supply depot of global pharma major Pfizer, as a counterfeit medicine racket in the state continues to widen. Health Minister U T Khader announced the action on Sunday, saying it followed weeks of investigation into a sprawling network accused of manufacturing and distributing spurious, potentially life-threatening drugs across Bengaluru.

The crackdown traces back to August 18, when the Food Safety and Drugs Administration (FSDA) raided farmhouse premises in the Bidadi and Dodderi areas of Bengaluru South district. The raid uncovered counterfeit medicines worth close to Rs 5 crore, along with fake bills, injection-filling machinery and counterfeit labels. The scale of the seizure prompted the state to constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the racket further.

Announcing the latest round of action, Khader said several firms had been found either complicit or uncooperative with investigators. "We have stopped Pfizer's sale in the state because they did not cooperate with the investigation," Khader said, explaining that the depot's licence was suspended for the company's alleged failure to assist the SIT. He added that when distributors were asked to recall medicines already in circulation, most "showed no interest nor were they cooperative," a pattern he said pointed to their proximity with the drugs' producers.

Pfizer has not responded to requests for comment on the suspension or the allegations against its local depot. The suspended unit is the company's C&F depot in Kempalinganahalli, Nelamangala taluk, Bengaluru Rural district.

According to the FSDA, preliminary findings suggest the Bidadi farmhouse was being used to procure low-cost medicines from neighbouring states, which were then refilled into new vials and relabelled to pass off as expensive, imported life-saving drugs of multinational brands, with Pfizer's branding specifically imitated. The counterfeit labels carried QR codes designed to appear authentic, but the agency found these codes were entirely non-functional when scanned, a detail officials say was meant to help the fake products pass casual scrutiny at the point of sale.

The health department has warned that the counterfeit drugs lacked active medicinal ingredients and, in some cases, may have contained harmful substances, posing a serious risk to patients who depend on them, including those undergoing treatment for critical illnesses. Investigators have said the racket's reach extended to several states, including Himachal Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu, and that its supply chain touched reputed hospitals that had unknowingly procured the spurious drugs.

Khader also pointed to a suspected "kingpin" behind the operation, without disclosing further details of the SIT's findings. He said the probe had so far identified 24 linked agencies, of which 17 have already been shut down. Sources familiar with the investigation say a man identified as Prashanth is believed to be operating part of the network from Azerbaijan, and that jurisdictional hurdles have pushed the Karnataka government to seek the Centre's help in pursuing his extradition.

Among the items seized in the raid were 5,640 vials of a counterfeit injection falsely branded under a healthcare company's name, valued at over Rs 3.38 crore, making up the single largest share of the haul. Officials also recovered over 1,500 vials of another counterfeit injectable, more than 260 vials of a drug counterfeiting Pfizer's product, and 30 boxes of expired medication worth Rs 35 lakh that investigators believe were being readied for resale. Several other counterfeit injectable batches, along with an injection-filling machine and bulk quantities of forged labels and stamps, were also seized.

The FSDA has blocked the batch numbers linked to the seized drugs on its portal to prevent further sale, and has sent samples for laboratory testing to verify their composition, sterility and potency. The agency has urged the public to buy medicines only from licensed pharmacies, insist on valid tax invoices, and report any suspicious packaging or non-functional QR codes to drug enforcement authorities without delay.

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