China revokes license of tainted drug maker

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The drugs made by Hualian Pharmaceutical Co harmed several hundred children, causing difficulty in walking for some, according to local media reports. They were recalled in September by the Shanghai municipal government.

BEIJING (Reuters) - China has revoked the production license of a Shanghai drug company for making contaminated leukemia medicine, Xinhua news agency reported on Wednesday, a sign of the country's harder line on product safety.

The drugs made by Hualian Pharmaceutical Co harmed several hundred children, causing difficulty in walking for some, according to local media reports. They were recalled in September by the Shanghai municipal government.

A spokeswoman of the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) said the highest fine under Chinese drug law would be leveled against the company and that several of its officials were detained by police.

China has come under scrutiny for the safety of its products in recent months due to a series of scandals involving Chinese exports ranging from toys to toothpaste. In the wake of widely publicized recalls, Beijing launched a nationwide campaign to improve product quality.

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The Shanghai government halted production and sale of the generic drugs -- methotrexate and cytarabin hydrochloride -- after problems were reported in hospitals in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Shanghai city, Xinhua said.

Investigations showed several batches of the two drugs had been contaminated during production, the news agency reported.

"Leaders of the Shanghai Hualian Pharmaceutical Company intentionally held back the facts of production violations during the investigation," the SFDA spokeswoman said, according to Xinhua.

The company was planning to compensate those who had fallen ill after taking the tainted drugs, Xinhua added.

(Reporting by Simon Rabinovitch; Editing by Alex Richardson)