VISAKHAPATNAM: Even as a team of officials from the Drugs Standard Control Organisation (DSCO) of Hyderabad continued their inspection of records of Actimus Biosciences Pvt Ltd for the second day on Thursday, members of the All-India Democratic Women’s Association and the Students Federation of India staged a protest in front of the company’s office demanding the government close it down.During inspection of the company’s records on Tuesday, the officials of the Andhra Pradesh Drug Control Authority (DCA) had found that Actimus representatives took volunteers’ signatures on several papers without informing them of their content by offering `6,000 each, AIDWA and SFI leaders alleged.They said that the company faced similar charges (illegal detention of persons) during tests conducted on migrant labour in 2009 but the government did not take any action against it.Meanwhile, during the two-day inspection of the records and procedures of Actimus, the officials did not find any violation of moral and ethical standards while administering the tests on students.According to sources, as anti-epilepsy drug, Lamitrezen, is not a new drug in the international market, the company conducted the bioequivalence tests on students following the norms of ethics committee. But some experts said the ethics committee should be nominated by the government and not by the companies. The state DCA should be given power to inspect whenever irregularities come to light and file criminal cases against such labs, they added. The DSCO officials are likely to submit a report within a few days.
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