Pharmaceuticals

Drug shortages in the US

The good news: drug shortages in 2023 were down in the US from their recent peak between 2010 to 2012.

The bad news: Drug shortages in 2023 were the highest they have been since 2012.

These findings are from an FDA Report to Congress. Of note, shortages for biologic drugs (governed by CBER) increased a lot in 2023. FDA writes that:

CY 2023 has been a challenging year for shortages. For example, the notable increase in new shortages of CBER-regulated biological products was due to manufacturing problems and quality procedures at one manufacturer that experienced global supply chain issues related to the lack of some materials and components needed for the manufacturing process. FDA has seen manufacturers in the United States and abroad continue to experience quality issues and struggle with capacity constraints.

You can read the full report here.