Medicines shortage
*The document was updated on July 10, 2023
Currently, medicine shortages represent a global health issue, impacting patients’ lives and their treatment options. Access to pain and fever medications, such as paracetamol and ibuprofen, and essential antibiotics, such as amoxicillin, azithromycin, and clarithromycin, is becoming increasingly challenging.1–4
Fagron products and services contribute every day to improving people’s health. Fagron is active in the entire value chain of pharmaceutical compounding and offers its customers a full range of products and services. Together with pharmacists, prescribers, hospitals, and the industry, we aim to improve personalized medicine worldwide, making treatments more accessible for different patient groups by addressing their specific needs.
Pharmaceutical compounding can address these challenges and cover gaps caused by those shortages. Most of these medicines can be compounded into personalized suspensions. Still, as most of them were not included in the pharmacy’s daily practice, it is crucial to provide guidance and support for the safe and efficient delivery of treatments. For this reason, we have created Compounding Recommendations to assist pharmacists around the globe in compounding oral liquid formulations with medicines currently experiencing shortages, using SyrSpend® SF.5 This innovative suspending vehicle provides consistent, individual dosing throughout the treatment.
SyrSpend SF: A solution for personalized suspension
SyrSpend® SF is quick and easy to compound with and provides pharmaceutical stability and dosage consistency with each preparation. Its light texture, safe ingredients, and neutral taste result in comfortable and easy-to-swallow treatments for all patient groups. The excellent compatibility with a broad range of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) – more than 140 – and meticulous ingredient safety makes SyrSpend® SF highly suitable for compounding safe and stable customized medication. Investments in performing stability studies at independent laboratories have made SyrSpend® SF the best-studied vehicle worldwide. SyrSpend® SF not only allows for dosing flexibility but also provides maximum dosing safety.5
SyrSpend® SF vehicles are available in 4 different versions: SyrSpend® SF PH4 Liquid, SyrSpend® SF PH4 Dry, SyrSpend® SF PH4 NEO, and SyrSpend® SF Alka. Each product has specific characteristics that make it suitable for certain APIs, depending on the physical-chemical stability. You can read more about it here.
The Compounding Recommendations that we are providing combined specific pharmacopeia’s recommendations for each API, suggested formulations with adequate compounding instructions, and beyond-use dates based on known physical-chemical characteristics of each ingredient. 6
You can read more about SyrSpend® SF here and you can buy it online at our global webshop or get in contact with your local representative.
About Fagron
By extending the range of mass-produced medication through personalization, together we can cater to every patient even in these challenging times. Because together we create the future of personalized medicine. You can learn more about how Fagron solutions can contribute to individual patients’ needs here.
References
1.Key Medicine Shortages – January 2023. https://ggcmedicines.org.uk/blog/medicines-update/key-medicine-shortages-january-2023/.
2.McKenna, M. Drug Shortages Aren’t New. The Tripledemic Just Made You Look. https://www.wired.com/story/drug-shortages-arent-new-the-tripledemic-just-made-you-look/.
3.Dunleavy, K. Drug shortages aren’t going away any time soon, supply chain expert warn. https://www.fiercepharma.com/manufacturing/drug-shortages-arent-going-away-any-time-soon-supply-chain-expert-warns.
4.Kristina, S. A., Wiedyaningsih, C., Widyakusuma, N. N. & Aditama, H. Extemporaneous Compounding Practice By Pharmacists: a Systematic Review. Int J Pharm Pharm Sci 9, 42 (2017).
5.Dijkers, E., Polonini, H. & Ferreira, A. de O. Always the Right Dose? Content Uniformity in Over 100 Different Formulations Tested. IJPC 24, 408–412 (2020).
6.United States Pharmacopeial Convention. <795> Pharmaceutical Compounding – non-sterile preparations. in United States Pharmacopeia (2023).
