The ongoing shortage of local anesthetics, including bupivacaine and lidocaine solutions, has been extended, drugmakers told the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists.
Pharmaceutical companies have continually postponed their resupply dates, and some delayed the dates again.
Here are the new estimated resupply dates and drug availabilities, according to the ASHP:
Bupivacaine: 34 unavailable, 13 available
- Areva Pharmaceuticals is temporarily importing 0.25% and 0.5% solutions of bupivacaine from Fisiopharma, its Italy-based supplier.
- Eugia US has one product on back order and expects a release date in March. Its other solutions are available again.
- Fresenius Kabi has seven on back order and slightly pushed back estimated resupply dates to be between late March and late April. In an update posted March 24 to the ASHP site, the drugmaker said it could not predict a release date for its 0.25% Sensorcaine 10 milliliter solution.
- Hikma Pharmaceuticals has five bupivacaine products on back order. For 0.25% 10 milliliter, 0.5% 10 milliliter and 0.75% 10 milliliter solutions, Hikma predicts a release date between late May and early June. It also expects its 0.25% 30 milliliter and 0.5% 30 milliliter vials to be available between late July and early August.
- Pfizer has 17 products on back order. In an update, the company pushed back some resupply dates. Of the new dates, four are in April, four in May, two in June, one in July and two in August.
Bupivacaine with epinephrine: 20 unavailable, zero available
- Fresenius Kabi has eight injections on back order and cannot estimate a resupply date for its 0.25% 50 milliliter, 0.5% 30 milliliter and 0.75% 30 milliliter vials. Two are expected to return to normal supply levels in March, two in April and one in May.
- Pfizer has 13 on back order. Six generic products are not expected to be available until February 2024, and the others used to have resupply dates between March and April, but their release dates now fall between May and September.
Lidocaine: 48 unavailable, eight available
- Amphastar Pharmaceuticals has 2% lidocaine 5 milliliter syringes on allocation and did not share a resupply date.
- Eugia has 11 products on back order and estimates a release date in late March for its 1% 20 milliliter and 2% 5 milliliter vials. The company previously estimated other solutions to be released in March, but in a March 20 update from the ASHP, the drugmaker said it could not provide other resupply dates.
- Fresenius Kabi has 18 on back order, and most of its resupply dates are in March and April, with one in May. The company said it could not predict a resupply date for four products.
- Hikma has four on back order, and in the most recent update, pushed some resupply dates from March through June.
- Pfizer has 14 on back order. Nearly all of them have resupply dates in March and April, and one of them, the 0.5% 50 milliliter flip top vials, has a release date of December.
Lidocaine with epinephrine: 23 unavailable, zero available
- Fresenius Kabi has 13 on back order and forecasts most resupply dates to be in March. It has four estimated resupply dates in March, four in April and one in June. The company said it could not estimate resupply dates for the rest.
- Pfizer has 10 back-ordered products. Five resupply dates were originally in March, but a March 27 update shows new resupply dates: Three are expected to be resupplied in April, three in June, one in July, one in September, one in November and one in December.