Medication Alerts
Brand name Frisium tablets (DIN 02221799) are being discontinued in Canada. Please see Lundbeck's statement regarding the discontinuation here.
Lundbeck estimates that the remaining supply of Frisium for the Canadian market will be depleted by the end of 2018. This estimate is based current inventory levels and historical usage. The run out date is subject to change if there are unanticipated increases/decreases in demand.
With the advance notice, there is an opportunity to proactively discuss the situation with patients who are stabilized on brand name Frisium and decide when to switch from the branded product to a generic formulation. Patients, their families and healthcare professionals can contact Lundbeck’s Medical Information team
AUGUST 22, 2016
Status as of August 10, 2016:
- The sole manufacturer of vigabatrin is currently out-of-stock
- The major Canadian distributors we have contacted have either very low levels of inventory or have no
remaining stock - Some pharmacies still have vigabatrin in inventory
- Lundbeck LLC posted a drug shortage notice on drugshortages.ca on August 9. The reason given for
the shortage is “Unexpected manufacturing delays”. - Both the tablets and the powder formulation (sachets) are listed on the drugshortages.ca reporting
website:
o 500 mg Sabril tablets, drug identification number 02065819, estimated resupply date: Sept. 1
o 500 mg Sabril powder, drug identification number 02068036, estimated resupply date: Sept.
Update: June 23, 2016
via Canadian Epilepsy Alliance Drug Shortage Committee
Clobazam is in short supply, but this drug is still available at some pharmacies. If inventories have become low or depleted at your pharmacy, ask your pharmacist to recheck the status of both generic clobazam and Frisium (brand name) with their suppliers.
Distributors have started receiving shipments this week of generic clobazam (Apo-clobazam, Apotex Inc.). The new stock will be spread across the country. There may restrictions on the amounts available to individual pharmacies until the supply situation stabilizes. A second replenishment of generic clobazam (Apo-clobazam, Apotex Inc.) is expected to arrive at pharmacies by early July.
It is expected that there will also be periodic shipments of the brand name product (Frisium, Lundbeck LLC) over the coming weeks as
UPDATE:
April 22, 2016
Currently, there is some availability of generic divalproex.
According to information posted by Teva Canada Limited on drugshortages.ca, shipments of Teva-Divalproex tablets were expected to be sent to wholesalers the week of April 4 (250mg) and the week of April 18 (500mg). There has been no recent resupply of the 125mg Teva-Divalproex tablets, the estimated resupply date is May 31.
Apotex provided new updates on April 21. They are beginning to resupply Apo-Divalproex, starting with the 500mg tablets. Some inventory of this strength tablet is expected to ship to wholesalers on April 22. The estimated resupply dates for Apo-Divalproex are May 9 (500mg), May 31 (250mg) and July 31 (125mg).
Epival is expected to remain in shortage for the coming months. A recent update from BGP Pharma on
