Just a few weeks after clearing an USFDA inspection, Orchid Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals’ Cephalosporin API manufacturing facility in Alathur (Chennai) has been issued a closure notice by the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) over non-compliance issue relating to disposal of solid waste.
The company said it is in active dialogue with the TNPCB officials and is confident of resolving the issue and bringing the plant to a fully operational stage at the earliest.
“This is the first time Orchid has received an issue from the pollution board,” said a company official.
Last month, Orchid’s Cephalosporin API manufacturing complex in Alathur had cleared an inspection from the USFDA.
“This successful inspection would help in continuing the supply of niche APIs manufactured by Orchid in this location to the developed markets,” the company had said at that time.
The Alathur facility has been manufacturing a range of oral and sterile Cephalosporin APIs (it is an antibiotic used to treat infection and inflammation) since 1994. The facility caters to the developed markets such as the US, Europe and Japan.
“Manufacturing API is a stringent process as it relates to chemicals and is dictated by quality,” according to the company spokesperson.
The Orchid stock is showing a volatile movement on the Bombay Stock Exchange.