CBI arrests joint drugs controller for taking Rs 4 lakh bribe to clear Biocon subsidiary’s product
The CBI apprehended Joint Drugs Controller S Eswara Reddy for allegedly receiving Rs 4-lakh bribe to waive phase-three clinical trial of Insulin Aspart injection, an underdevelopment product of Biocon Biologics, officials said.
After getting inputs about an exchange of bribes, the CBI registered a case of criminal conspiracy and corruption against Reddy, posted at CDSCO headquarters, and Dinesh Dua, Director at Synergy Network India, among others.
The CBI, which was working on the input for over a month, carried out a raid and Dua was caught giving Rs 4-lakh bribe to Reddy of the total promised amount of Rs 9 lakh on behalf of Biocon Biologics, a subsidiary of Kiran Majumder Shaw-led Biocon, officials said.
Biocon Biologics has denied bribery allegations. Biocon’s spokesperson said, “We deny the bribery allegations made in certain media stories. All our product approvals are legitimate and backed by science and clinical data. Our bAspart is approved in Europe and many other countries. We follow the due regulatory process for all our product approvals by DCGI. The entire application process in India is online and all meeting minutes are in the public domain. We are cooperating with the investigation agency.”
