FDA: New suppliers to ease shortage of 2 cancer medications

Associated Press

TRENTON, N.J.

Federal regulators have approved new suppliers for two crucial cancer drugs, easing critical shortages that had been ratcheting up fears that patients, particularly children with leukemia, would miss lifesaving treatments.

But there are 283 separate prescription drugs in short supply or unavailable nationwide, and regulators and manufacturers say shortages are a long-term problem.

On Tuesday, the Food and Drug Administration said it temporarily will allow importation of a replacement drug for Doxil, a drug for recurrent ovarian or bone-marrow cancer. The Johnson & Johnson drug hasn’t been available for new patients for months because J&J’s contract manufacturer had to shut down production over serious quality lapses.

The FDA also has approved a new supplier for a preservative-free version of methotrexate, a crucial drug for children with a type of leukemia called ALL, for lymphomas and for the bone cancer osteosarcoma. The version with preservatives can be toxic or cause paralysis in patients getting the drug either by injections into spinal-cord fluid or at very high doses.