MUMBAI - More than 200,000 medical representatives drawn from large pharmaceutical companies have called for a nationwide strike on Aug.17-18 to protest Indian and multinational drug companies that are alleged to have used loopholes in the laws and denied fair wages and other benefits to the field staff, from frontline managers down to medical representatives

A rising number of enforcement actions by major drug regulators like the U.S. FDA is slowly making investors cautious about the longer term repercussions on earnings of Indian drug makers.

In a bold move, little known Indian drug firm Lee Pharma has applied for a compulsory license for saxagliptin in India, contending that AstraZeneca sells the diabetes drug at an exorbitant local price and that it is not being made sufficiently available. Lee also says that the originator has not responded to calls to collaborate.