Senior pharma trade official Udaya Bhaskar says the country is too big a player for buyers to move away because of 'these aberrations' in Gambia and Uzbekistan.

India's pharmaceutical industry received a major jolt last year when cough syrups made by two companies based near New Delhi were linked to the deaths of at least 70 children in Gambia and 19 in Uzbekistan.

Several top drugs have begun to face competition from new rivals or are expected to lose patent protections in the next few years, and deals could be a quick fix to address the loss of revenue from older therapies.

The trader of industrial-grade chemicals sold them as pharmaceutical-grade, leading to their use in medicated syrups that authorities suspect may have caused deaths of more than 200 children across the country.

Pharmacies in major cities have been stripped bare in the wake of the Chinese government's sudden decision to lift years of lockdowns, quarantines and mass testing.

The Southeast Asian country has seen a spike in cases of acute kidney injury since August, with the deaths of at least 199 people, mostly children, prompting a probe and ban on some liquid medicine sales.

Indonesia has seen a surge in AKI cases among children since August, which its health minister said was most likely due to changes in the raw ingredients used in cough and fever syrups.

WHO says the UN agency is investigating deaths from acute kidney injuries with India's drug regulator and New Delhi-based cough syrup manufacturer.

Many sufferers start with modern doctors then look further into the past as their pain persists.