China orders stop to diabetes drug Rxing

China's Ministry of Health has ordered the country's physicians to cease prescribing a locally-produced copycat antidiabetic therapy, TangZhi  Ning Jiao Nang (glibenclamide), after two patients died in the  northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, according to the  government-controlled Xinhua news.

The Ministry stated that the drug is an imitation of Guangxi Pingnan  Pharmaceutical's Tang Zhi Ning Jiao Nang. Medical facilities have been  asked by the authorities to record the use of the suspect agent and to  submit samples to local inspection centers for testing.

Glibenclamide, referred to in the agency report as "an illegal chemical  ingredient," is one of the four most commonly-used generic drugs in  developing or middle-income countries, according to data from the World  Health Organization and the Netherlands-based Health Action  International advocacy group (Marketletter December 8, 2008).