Gurnee, Ill.-based drugmaker Akorn Operating Co. suddenly closed in late February, and some experts predicted worse drug shortages for liquid albuterol solutions. The product is used in nebulizers, a device that helps patients breathe by turning the medicine into a mist.
Although Akorn has not produced liquid albuterol for months, officials from group purchasing company Premier said Akorn’s closure may lengthen the nation’s albuterol shortage, which has been ongoing since October, according to the FDA.
“We are currently producing albuterol 0.5 as fast as possible to deliver to the market — and to patients — to address this shortage,” Lou Kennedy, CEO of West Columbia, S.C.-based Nephron, told Becker’s through a company spokesperson.
The Nephron spokesperson did not immediately respond to Becker’s request to quantify what “as fast as possible” means.
Nine albuterol inhalation solutions are unavailable, according to a March 1 update from the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. Nephron told the ASHP this shortage is “due to a manufacturing issue” and expects a resupply date in March.
Becker’s has reached out to Sun Pharma and Mylan, which are also short on the product, for comment and will update the story if more information becomes available.
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