Eight drugs were recently added to the hundreds-long, growing list of medications in short supply, according to the FDA and the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists.
Three are cancer therapies: doxorubicin liposomal injection, decitabine injection and methotrexate injection.
Editor's note: The drugs are listed in alphabetical order.
1. Decitabine injection: Eight drugmakers each have a 50 milligram solution of the cancer therapy in shortage. Two estimated resupply between August and September, and most did not share a release date. Hospitals are recommended to evaluate current supply and consider alternative regimens for a drug that lacks a replacement agent.
2. Doxorubicin liposomal injection: There are four available and four unavailable solutions of the drug that treats bladder, breast, lung, stomach and ovarian cancer. The shortages are expected to resolve in September, drugmakers told the ASHP. "No single agent can be substituted for doxorubicin liposomal, including doxorubicin," the ASHP said.
3. Liraglutide injection: There isn't enough supply for usual ordering of a solution of Novo Nordisk's drug that's approved for Type 2 diabetes and weight loss, Saxenda. The shortage is expected to last through 2023 and beyond.
4. Methotrexate tablets: Four solutions among three drugmakers are in short supply of the medication for multiple cancers and rheumatoid arthritis. As of late July, 12 shortages among four drugmakers have been resolved.
5. Methylphenidate hydrochloride extended-release tablets: Seventeen solutions of the attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder drug are in shortage because of reasons ranging from regulatory delays to increased demand and manufacturing issues. Some of the shortages are expected to resolve in August and September as 18 solutions remain available.
6. Methylphenidate immediate-release tablets: Sixteen solutions are in shortage and eight are not for the ADHD and narcolepsy drug. Most drugmakers said they could not estimate a resupply date, and Sun Pharma predicted its shortage to resolve in August.
7. Oxycodone hydrochloride and acetaminophen tablets: Twenty-two solutions are unavailable, including one discontinued solution, and 17 are available. A few drug companies said they could not estimate resupply dates. Rhodes Pharmaceuticals estimated restock in mid-August and Major Pharmaceuticals predicted mid-September.
8. Tirzepatide injection: Eli Lilly had three solutions of its Type 2 diabetes drug Mounjaro on intermittent back order in July, and three remained available, according to the ASHP. On Aug. 2, the FDA listed two solutions on intermittent back order through September.