Supreme Court seeks Centre's response on Micro Labs' plea against diabetes drug ban

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday sought a response from the Centre and the Drug Controller General of India on an appeal by Micro Labs challenging a ban on two fixed-dose combinations (FDCs) used to treat Type II diabetes mellitus.

On January 9, a division bench of the Delhi High Court had restored the government's ban on FDC medicines, setting aside its single judge's order that favoured pharma companies, including Lupin, Intas Pharmaceuticals and others.

The single judge in February 2019 quashed two notifications issued by the government in 2018 proscribing the manufacture and sale of FDCs comprising the formulation "Glimepiride 1 mg/2 mg + Pioglitazone 15 mg/15 mg + Metformin 850 mg/850 mg" and "Glimepiride 1 mg/2 mg/3 mg + Pioglitazone 15 mg/15 mg/15 mg + Metformin 1000 mg/1000 mg."


The 2019 order was then passed on various petitions filed by Micro Labs, Intas Pharmaceuticals, Lupin, and Eris Lifesciences, the manufacturers of certain FDCs used in the treatment of Type-II diabetes mellitus.