Two local pharmaceutical firms have issued recalls for blood pressure medication after their drugs were found to contain potential carcinogens, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said, following similar recalls worldwide.
Taipei-based Synmosa Biopharma Corp (健喬信元醫藥生技) on Friday informed the agency that during a self-screening it had discovered that the active ingredient valsartan in its Vaks 80mg and Vaks 160mg tablets contained N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), a substance suspected to increase the likelihood of cancer, the FDA said in a statement
The valsartan came from Tianyu Pharmaceutical Co (天宇), in China’s Zhejiang Province, and had the batch number 10230-160509, the agency said.
Photo provided by the Food and Drug Administration
The recall, which is to continue until June, affects about 660,000 million tablets produced by Synmosa in three batches, with the numbers B26541, B24691 and B22371, the agency said.
In addition, the FDA said it has found that Tianyu Pharmaceutical’s Valsartan was also used by Synpac-Kingdom Pharmaceutical Co (景德製藥), another Taiwanese pharmaceutical firm, to produce blood pressure medication.
The agency on Friday asked Synpac-Kingdom to recall its Disartan 80mg containing the ingredient, which would affect 577,000 tablets from two batches with the code numbers AGR098 and AGW118, it said.
The two firms aim to complete the recall by March 15, the FDA said.
The incident is the latest among several cases worldwide in which potentially tainted blood pressure medication has been recalled.
The US Food and Drug Administration in July and August last year announced recalls of blood pressure drugs containing valsartan that were contaminated with NDMA or a similar impurity, N-nitrosodiethylamine.
All of the recalled products had ingredients made in India or China.
FDA division head Hung Kuo-teng (洪國登) in December said that when the agency first heard of the potential problems in July, it began checking blood pressure drugs on the local market and asked drug makers to screen their own products for impurities.
The EU in summer and fall last year also launched global recalls of drugs after discovering that the valsartan they contained, which came from India, was contaminated, Hung said.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
TRADE-OFF: Beijing seeks to trade a bowl of tempura for a Chinese delicacy, an official said, while another said its promises were attempts to interfere in the polls The government must carefully consider the national security implications of building a bridge connecting Kinmen County and Xiamen, China, the Public Construction Commission (PCC) said yesterday. PCC Commissioner Derek Chen (陳金德), who is also a minister without portfolio, made the remarks in a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, after Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Hsu Fu-kuei (徐富癸) asked about China’s proposal of new infrastructure projects to further connect Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties with Xiamen. China unveiled the bridge plan, along with nine other policies for Taiwan, on Sunday, the last day of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun’s (鄭麗文) visit
RSS