Changing Markets, a campaigning body which advocates blacklisting of polluting pharma companies has deemed Indian drug major Aurobindo as a "recidivist polluter", in its recent report.
It also alleged that Aurobindo imports raw materials from dirty factories in China.
Other than Aurobindo, factories of major pharmacy companies like Orchid Pharma and Asiatic Drugs and Pharmaceuticals are responsible for breeding drug resistant bacteria in India, the report added.
Fierce Pharma reported that water samples from the factory sites (16 of of 34) of these pharma majors in India tested positive for drug-resistant bacteria.
Out of these, four sites had a presence of bacteria which were resistant to three widely-used and important antibiotic classes--cephalosporins, carbapenems and fluoroquinolones--including drugs generally used in extreme conditions.
Fierce Pharma quoted the Changing Markets study saying, “"Every year, nearly 1 million people worldwide die from drug-resistant infections," and the figure is projected to climb to 10 million a year by 2050, it added, causing cumulative economic losses of $100 trillion.
"The dumping of antibiotic manufacturing residues poses a grave threat to human health in light of the growing antimicrobial resistance crisis," campaign manager at Changing Markets told Fierce Pharma.