Thirty-four solutions of docetaxel injection, a drug intended for five different cancers, are on back order, according to the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists.
Twelve drugmakers are in short supply of the product, and most told the ASHP they cannot estimate a resupply date. Hikma Pharmaceuticals and Sagent Pharmaceuticals each said they expect a release date in May; Teva Pharmaceutical Industries said April; and Viatris said between mid-April and late-May.
The treatment is intended for breast cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, prostate cancer, gastric adenocarcinoma, and head and neck cancer, according to the National Library of Medicine.
Dacarbazine, used to treat some skin cancers, is also in shortage, according to the ASHP.
At least five other oncology medications are in shortage: bladder cancer drug Bacillus Calmette-Guerin; cisplatin, which is intended for bladder cancer and has off-label uses for others; fluorouracil, or 5FU, a drug usually paired with other oncology treatments that has no available presentations; advanced prostate cancer drug Pluvicto (injectable lutetium vipivotide tetraxetan); and methotrexate, which is used to treat multiple cancers. The last four shortages are expected to ease this summer.