Investigations continued this weekend into the manufacturing of a bogus drug by a Chinese pharmaceutical company. The drug caused 13 patients to suffer severe kidney failure.

The company, Qiqihar No 2 Pharmaceutical Company, has been forced to suspend operations, drugs have been removed from hospitals, and implicated persons have been arrested.

The State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) on Thursday issued an emergency announcement banning the sale and use of medicines produced by the drug maker, which is based in Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.

The ban came after 13 patients had developed the symptoms of acute kidney failure at the No 3 Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, after using the company's Armillarisini A injection earlier this month.

Armillarisini A can be used to treat gallstones and gastritis.

Preliminary investigation showed that the drug was bogus on account of serious flaws in the manufacturing process, the SFDA said.

A nationwide campaign to remove all medicines produced by the company has been carried out at the order of the SFDA.

Nearly 1.8 million sets were sealed in Heilongjiang Province alone, said the local food and drug administration.

Qiqihar No 2 Pharmaceutical Co is a State-owned company with more than 300 registered workers, but operations have now been suspended. A security guard at the factory said the whole company had been "on holiday for several days".

Cao Yongwen, head of the Qiqihar Food and Drug Administration, said that propylene glycol, a chemical needed to produce the drug, was to blame.

The chemical, which was purchased from Taixing Chemical Plant in East China's Jiangsu Province, was found to be bogus.

Local food and drug administration officials in Jiangsu have sealed the chemical in the plant for further investigation. An employee named Wang Guiping was detained by local public security officials on suspicion of selling the chemical, Xinhua News Agency reported.

Li Yunlong, director of the Heilongjiang Food and Drug Administration, said those who are responsible for manufacturing the drug were under arrest, and severe punishments would be dished out if they are found to be guilty.

(China Daily May 15, 2006)