Exclusive-Indian firm used toxic industrial-grade ingredient in syrup - sources

Logo of Marion Biotech, a healthcare and pharmaceutical company is seen on a gate outside their office in Noida, India, December 29, 2022. REUTERS/Anushree Fadnavis

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The Indian manufacturer of cough syrups that Uzbekistan said last year had poisoned 19 children used a toxic industrial-grade ingredient rather than the legitimate pharmaceutical version, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

The company, Marion Biotech, bought the ingredient — propylene glycol (PG) — from trader Maya Chemtech India, as reported by Reuters. But Maya did not have a licence to sell pharmaceutical-grade materials and "dealt in industrial-grade only," according to a source at the firm with knowledge of the Marion investigation.