India's cough syrup ban hits Pfizer, Abbott units

Mumbai

PFIZER Inc and Abbott Laboratories on Monday said they would comply with a ban on a popular cough syrup in India after it was added to a local list of prohibited drugs, sending shares in the US firms' Indian subsidiaries tumbling.

Pfizer's Corex-brand syrup and Abbott's identical Phensedyl contain the narcotic codeine. That brought them to the attention of authorities combating addiction and smuggling, who had been privately pressuring the drugmakers to better police supply chains, Reuters reported last year.