Olympics spawned API shortages
By Tracy Staton
Like some drugs, the Beijing Olympics has had adverse side effects. As you know, China shut down an entire swath of industry to clear the air over Beijing for the games. Among the shutdowns were plants that churn out raw materials for drugs and active pharmaceutical ingredients. During the games, Indian drugmakers were finding active ingredients scarce, and costly, too. And now South African pharma companies are complaining of Olympics-based raw materials shortages.
The problem is particularly acute in South Africa, which sets fixed prices for drugs. Though some ingredients have tripled in cost, local drugmakers have had to take the hit. And according to one pharma exec, the Olympics problem has been exacerbated by rising fuel prices and an increase in costs for commodities such as starch that are used in making many drugs. Some small drugmakers have even discontinued certain products because of ingredient shortages and rising prices, putting meds such as antidepressants, diuretics, penicillin, and brochodilators in short supply.
fiercepharma.com
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Beijing shutdown hits SA generics supply
Chantelle Benjamin
Chief Reporter - Business Day
Posted to the web on: 05 September 2008
THE Beijing Olympics has had an unexpected side effect, which in SA is being felt in the form of serious shortages of generic medicines.
A pharmaceutical manufacturer said this week the shortage was the biggest in its experience.
Generic drugs supplies worldwide were affected when China, the largest producer of bulk pharmaceutical chemicals in the world, decided to halt chemicals production in and around Beijing temporarily before the Olympic Games.
China also supplies 20% of these chemicals (active pharmaceutical ingredients ) to India, and 75% of the intermediate products Indian firms require to synthesize the final products.
Stephen Saad, CE of Aspen Pharmacare, Africa’s biggest generic drug maker, said yesterday the situation was worsened by rising prices of fuel and commodities such as starch, used in making many generic drugs.
These had led to the trebling of prices in some instances, which drug manufacturers in SA had to absorb.
The fixed exit price, which is set by government, does not take into consideration fluctuations in input costs.
This has led to some smaller pharmaceutical companies, supplying generic and original brand-name drugs, opting to discontinue ranges.
Sandoz SA admitted earlier this year that it had stopped making two drugs, an antibiotic and an allergy medication, as they were no longer viable.
These factors have left South African pharmacists scrambling for medicine stocks including bronchodilators, antidepressants, diuretics, penicillin and even Vitamin C.
A Durban pharmacist said: “On a prescription with three items, we can find ourselves trying to find replacements for all three, which is very unsettling for clients.
“And then the alternate products run out.”
She said clients often have to pay for more expensive products because generics are not available.
This is a serious problem for the health department which is promoting generics in a bid to make medicines cheaper for consumers.
Shortages of flu medications have also been reported country-wide, but this could have more to do with new regulations imposed by the health department, which require medicines containing ephedrine or pseudoephedrine to be reclassified a schedule 6 medication, which may have prompted suppliers to repackage products.
Saad said: “The temporary shutdown in Beijing created a worldwide problem that was felt in India first, and that is only now starting to improve.
“But we are still feeling the pinch in terms of commodity prices. “Problems with supply from March this year left us with a record back orders list.” Saad said that increases in components such as penicillin had seen smaller suppliers discontinue some products.
“We cannot discontinue brands because we have contracts, particularly with the government, so we have been losing R1m a month to keep supplying products with penicillin.”
National Association of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers chairman Mohamed Bodhania agreed that a fixed exit price was proving a problem for manufacturers.
“Approval for extraordinary increases are also not happening fast enough and suppliers are struggling to get approval ,” he said.
Aspen Pharmacare is in talks with the health department for permission to introduce an extra ordinary price increase.
“The prices on products are coming down and are probably only twice what they were originally rather than treble the price,” said Saad.
The public sector, aware of price increases, has agreed to compensate Aspen Pharmcare on pricing where it can.
This means that it is more viable for the company to supply the public sector than it is to supply the private sector.
The pharmaceutical industry made submissions in December on proposed increases.
According to the health department, an announcement is to be made shortly. |
