P&G Shares Down By 2% Over Ban Of Drugs

Ohio: American multinational consumer goods company Procter & Gamble (P&G) witnessed it shares falling by up to three percent on Tuesday amid concerns over ban on its popular drug products.

The fall comes after a ban on 344 drugs which was ensued by the health ministry leading to an immediate suspension of P&G’s popular products.

Shares of pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Abbott India also remained under pressure post the ban. While Pfizer had to immediately suspend manufacture and sale of its Corex cough syrup on Monday, its shares took a nine percent blowout on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). On Tuesday, the Delhi High Court provided the company with an interim relief till the next hearing date after it challenged the ban. Pfizer said that it expects its profits to take a huge hit as Corex had generated sales of around $26 million in the past nine months till December. Abbott India also came under the scanner after its powerful antibiotic combination, marketed in India by the US pharmaceutical giant Abbott Laboratories, was named among the 344 banned drugs.

Earlier on Tuesday, P&G announced suspension of the manufacture and sale of Vicks Action 500 Extra after the order was passed, taking the company's share price down by 1.51 percent to Rs 6,035.65 on the BSE. P&G said that all its products were backed by research to support their quality, safety and efficacy. Vicks Action 500 Extra is a fixed dose combination of paracetamol, phenylephrine and caffeine, which was banned by India's health ministry in a notice issued over the weekend.