In early August, Teva
hit a bump
in producing the popular ADHD drug Adderall, as the company faced a backorder of the drug in 20 mg and 30 mg tablets, however, the situation has spread to a few other makers of the drug.
According to a
report
from the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (AHSP), the shortage has continued for Teva and other manufacturers, as Amneal Pharmaceuticals, Purdue subsidiary Rhodes Pharmaceuticals and Sandoz all face shortages.
The ASHP report states that the companies did not give a reason for the shortage, but the issues extend to a wide array of dosage forms. For Amneal, their shortage is primarily in the 5, 15 and 25 mg amounts of amphetamine and mixed salts capsules. Rhodes’s shortage extends to several amounts, including its 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 mg capsules. Sandoz only faces a shortage in their 10 and 20 mg amounts.
For Teva, the shortage extends beyond just their original amounts with their 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 mg capsules all being impacted.
According to a
report
from
Bloomberg,
the four companies combine to sell just over half of all generic-based Adderall in the US, per data from Symphony Health. The Bloomberg report stated that prescriptions for Adderall have skyrocketed in the past year due to a combination of increased dosage amounts and wider availability through startup prescription services.
In April
, the FDA also sent a warning to two unregistered pharmacies accused of illegally selling Adderall online to customers without a prescription.
However, for Teva’s case, a spokesperson for the company, in an email to
Endpoints News
identified the supply issue as a downstream effect of past labor shortages on the packaging line which has been resolved.
“Teva has active supply of both branded Adderall and its generic version and continues to produce and refill the channel regularly. It is possible that some may encounter a backorder (intermittently) based on timing and demand, but these are only temporary,” the Teva spokesperson said in an email to Endpoints.
Endpoints also reached out to the other companies facing shortages for comments and will update the story accordingly.
As for the current supply, there are still generic doses available from Lannett, Shire and Prasco, with Sandoz and Amneal also having other doses available. For the supply to return to normal, the ASHP estimates that Amneal will release its 5 mg capsules in late September, with the 15 and 25 mg capsules already being released.
Sandoz said it cannot estimate when its 15 mg dose will be available, but the 20 mg capsules will be ready to go sometime in September. Rhodes did not give any specifics to the ASHP, but its 10, 15, 25 and 30 mg capsules are on backorder and will release the doses as they become available. Rhodes’s 20 mg capsules are now available but in limited supply.
Teva currently has all its doses on back order and plans to release those doses later this month.