Patients are reckoning with major shortages of a second rheumatoid arthritis drug in Australia, with manufacturing issues at pharma giant Bristol Myers Squibb leading to lower supplies of its medication Orencia.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) issued a notice last week confirming the company had advised it of shortages of the product, which is used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis and polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis.
The supply crunch comes less than a year after another arthritis drug, known as Actemra, saw major supply interruptions due to it being diverted to COVID-19 patients as a treatment for serious cases.
Arthritis sufferers are facing major supply issues for yet another treatment.Credit:Louie Douvis
Bristol Myers Squibb’s Australian medical director Melinda Munns said Orencia would see intermittent supply constraints globally throughout the first half of this year due to “a combination of manufacturing capacity constraints, supplier component challenges and shipment delays”.
The situation is worrying experts, who say rheumatologists have already spent the past year juggling their patients’ treatment plans to ensure the medicines they prescribe are actually available.
Professor Catherine Hill, president of the Australian Rheumatology Association (ARA) and director of the Rheumatology Unit at Adelaide’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital, said the shortages of Orencia were concerning because it was a drug often prescribed to patients who are not suited to other treatments.
“That is why we are feeling pretty anxious about it,” she said.
While Bristol Myers Squibb is hoping more supplies of the drugs will land later this month and in March, Professor Hill said global supply chain challenges mean there are no guarantees.
