Glenmark Confirms Fake Telma-AM Tablets as Probe Traces Supply Chain to Bihar, Uttarakhand

The investigation began on July 16 after a brand protection associate from Glenmark informed drug control officials about the circulation of suspected spurious Telma-AM tablets in the local market. Telma-AM is a commonly prescribed medicine used in the treatment of hypertension, or high blood pressure.

Following the alert, a joint team from the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) inspected two retail pharmacies in Sector 52, Gurugram. These included SDL Pharmacy in the HUDA Market and DS Pharmacy at High Street-52. According to a recent court order issued in a related bail matter, purchase records examined at DS Pharmacy directed investigators towards Lucky Pharma Logistic Private Limited, a wholesale distributor located in Udyog Vihar Phase VI, Gurugram.

During the inspection of the distributor's warehouse, officials seized 178 strips of the suspected counterfeit medicine, containing a total of 2,670 tablets. A representative present at the premises provided purchase bills issued by another Gurugram-based supplier, Madan Medical Agencies, as recorded in the court order.

The subsequent investigation of Madan Medical Agencies led officials to Shri Balaji Pharmaporium, a wholesale pharmaceutical firm based in Okhla. District Drug Controller Amandeep Chauhan had earlier stated that joint teams inspected the Okhla-based firm on July 17. During the inspection, officials allegedly found that the purchase bills submitted by the distributor were forged.

The investigation further traced the alleged supply network to Bihar, where shipments were linked to two Patna-based entities, Pangea Enterprises and Zet Private Limited. Court records identified several intermediaries and distributors allegedly involved in procuring and transporting the stock across state borders. These included Suvrat Dwivedi, Zubair, Vipin Kumar and Pardeep Kumar.

The investigation eventually led officials to Kashipur in Uttarakhand's Udham Singh Nagar district. According to the court order, the inspection team searched the premises of Aushi Immunosciences Private Limited in the presence of its director, 49-year-old Maneesh Singh. During the search, officials seized industrial manufacturing equipment, including two rotary tablet presses and an Alu-Alu blister packaging machine. Investigators also recovered remnants of blister packaging foil that reportedly matched the packaging used for Telma-AM strips.

A case was registered at Gurugram's Sector 40 police station on September 28 under three provisions of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act relating to the manufacture, sale or distribution of spurious or adulterated drugs. The alleged supply network and the recovery made during the investigation were subsequently placed before Additional Sessions Judge Sudeep Goel in connection with the bail proceedings of Maneesh Singh.

Singh, who had remained in custody since his arrest on September 28, was granted regular bail in an order passed on Thursday. The judge noted that the prosecution had filed its chargesheet without an official report from the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL). The court observed that the recovery of packaging remnants and a heap of tablets, by itself, was insufficient to establish a prima facie case of manufacturing spurious drugs in the absence of chemical testing results.

The court held that Singh's alleged involvement and culpability would have to be determined during the trial. It ordered his release on a bail bond of Rs 1 lakh, subject to furnishing one surety.

Drugs Control Officer Amandeep Chauhan told The Indian Express that the main accused, Suvrat Dwivedi, had also been granted bail. Chauhan added that the bail order would be challenged before the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

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