USP hosted a virtual briefing to discuss the root causes, complexities, and pervasiveness of drug shortages, and how these systemic factors underscore the urgency to align policy solutions and coordinate efforts for mitigation and prevention.
Drug shortages in the United States have persisted over the past decade, exposing market vulnerabilities and repercussions that impact patient care, according to the U.S. Pharmacopeia’s inaugural Drug Shortages Report. The report, encompassing trends in the United States through 2023, reveals that shortages are lasting longer—the average drug shortage lasts for over three years compared to about two years in 2020—and impact a wide range of therapeutic classes. More than half, 53 percent, of new drug shortages were generic sterile injectable medicines, which are critical for patient care in emergency rooms, ICUs, cancer clinics, and outpatient surgery departments, among other settings.
Leveraging USP's Medicine Supply Map, a data intelligence platform that uses artificial intelligence and predictive analytics to identify, characterize, and predict risk in the complex medicine supply chain, the report sheds light on several factors that can cause a drug to be more vulnerable to shortage.
To learn more about the USP Medicine Supply Map, Visit: https://www.usp.org/supply-chain/medicine-supply-map
Speakers: Matt Christian, Director, Supply Chain Insights and Carrie Harney, Vice President, U.S. Government & Regulatory Affairs
0:00 Intro
1:18 Introduction to USP
4:41 About the USP Annual Drug Shortages Report
7:13 Key insights
16:09 Market and policy reforms