The Department of Health and Social Care (DH) has issued a Medicine Supply Notification (MSN) for VFEND (Voriconazole) 40mg/ml powder for oral suspension.
Voriconazole 40mg/ml powder for oral suspension will remain out of stock until late April, the health regulator said.
Patients in primary care with insufficient supply who need continued treatment, should be referred back to secondary care for review.
Voriconazole 50mg, 100mg and 200mg tablets will remain available and unlicensed supplies of voriconazole 40mg/ml oral suspension can be sourced.
UL Global Pharma , Durbin PLC, Mawdsley’s Unlicensed, and Smartway Pharma have confirmed they can source unlicensed voriconazole 40mg/ml oral suspension.
If there is currently no listing on dm+d for the imported product for prescribers to select using their prescribing systems an EPS prescription for unlicensed voriconazole 40mg/ml oral suspension cannot be issued.
Where a prescriber wishes to prescribe an unlicensed import, an FP10 paper prescription should be issued as ‘voriconazole 40mg/ml oral suspension (Special Order)‘ and endorsed by the pharmacy as a non-Part VIIIB special.
The DH has also extended a medicine supply notification for Acea’s Metronidazole 0.75% gel.
Acea 0.75% gel will remain out of stock until mid August however, Metrogel 0.75% gel and Rozex 0.75% gel remain available in community pharmacy shelves.
There is another supply disruption alert for Phenytoin Sodium NRIM 100mg capsules of Accord. The product will be out of stock until early May.
“Phenytoin is classified by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) as a Category 1 anti-epileptic drug; for these drugs, prescribers are advised to ensure that their patient is maintained on a specific manufacturer’s product,” the DH said in its update.
“An alternative phenytoin sodium 100mg capsules manufactured by Flynn Pharma is available, however switching to an alternative formulation requires monitoring and may also require specialist support, advice or referral,” it added.
