CDSCO Declares 145 Drug Samples NSQ in February 2025 Testing Results

The Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) issued a report that, in February 2025, a total of 145 drug samples tested throughout India were found to be of a different quality standard. The increase in the NSQ reports is attributed to the augmented participation by State drug control offices. The CDSCO said several states began to report NSQ drugs actively into the central database.

Of the total number of failed samples, 52 were identified by the Central Drugs Laboratories, while 93 were detected by State Drugs Testing Laboratories. As part of routine regulatory surveillance, CDSCO publishes the list of NSQ drugs on its portal monthly. The identification of NSQ drugs is based on their failure to meet specified quality parameters during testing.

One of the authority said, “Salient feature of this month’s NSQ reporting has been the continuous increase in participation of states in reporting NSQs to the central database. Increased reporting of NSQs/spurious identifications from states to Central databases will further help in improving availability of quality medicines in the country and beyond”.

The CDSCO said failures point only to the specific batch tested, and no concern arises because other products are already on the market. It was mentioned that the identification and removal of substandard and spurious medicines is an ongoing process, settled as a joint effort with state regulators to put public health on the safe side.