Malecare asked several prostate cancer focused pharmaceutical manufacturers for their plans to ensure all medications are available.
Many of our members have emailed or telephoned for more information about availability and/or how they could stockpile medication, vis a vie Coronavirus/Covid-19. Doctors, hospitals, and pharmacies are failing as information providers.
Our members want honesty, clarity, and as much certainty as possible. Boilerplate statements like, “we’re doing the best we can,” or “patient care is our priority” only extend the agony that our massive patient population is experiencing. A written statement that is forthright and empathic would be acceptable.
Below are the responses we’ve received. We’ll post more as soon as we receive them. We are indeed grateful for these replies.
From Pfizer
Ensuring that our patients receive consistent and safe access to the medicines they need is paramount. Our manufacturing and supply chain professionals have been working to ensure that the global supply of Pfizer medicines continue to be available to patients. As of now, we have not seen a disruption in our supply chain, and all of our plants in impacted areas around the world are operational.
Due to the continued strain on the healthcare system during this unprecedented crisis Pfizer is continuing to pause the recruitment portion for our new and ongoing global interventional studies, with the exception of certain studies where patients with life-threatening conditions have few or no other therapeutic options. We are continuously reviewing the situation and expect over time to resume recruitment and new study starts on a country-by-country basis.
If you or a patient you know has questions about a Pfizer medicine, please contact Pfizer Medical Information at 1-800-438-1985.
I would also like to inform you that to avoid adding to the demands on the healthcare system during this unprecedented crisis with COVID-19, Pfizer is pausing participant recruitment for three weeks in our new and ongoing global interventional studies, with the exception of a few Oncology studies where patients with life-threatening conditions have few or no other therapeutic options.
We know that the situation is rapidly evolving and community guidance on how to respond to COVID-19 differs in every country, city and site. We expect over time to resume recruitment and new study starts on a country-by-country basis.
From Bayer:
“The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared a Global Pandemic in response to the 2019-nCoV (novel coronavirus) outbreak. Our thoughts are with the individuals and families that have been impacted by this virus.
Ensuring the supply of our products for patients has the highest priority for Bayer. Therefore, we have a general inventory policy which includes buffers for our sourced material and throughout our entire supply chain. Our colleagues are in regular contact with our suppliers to ensure the continued supply of our products.
Currently we do not have an impact on production and market supply. Our own production is running according to plan. Customers can continue to order via the established channels without any changes.
We continue to very closely monitor the situation, in constant alignment with all our partners, and will keep you posted as the situation evolves.
For additional questions about our products and services, please contact Bayer Medical Communications at 888-842-2937.”
From Clovis:
“As we do not have an approved product for the treatment of prostate cancer at this time, it would not be compliant for us to make any statements regarding availability until after we secure an approval.”
From Janssen / Johnson & Johnson:
“We have robust plans in place across Johnson & Johnson’s supply chain network to prepare for unforeseen events and to meet the needs of patients who depend on our products. This includes maintaining critical inventory at major distribution centers away from high-risk areas and working with external suppliers to support preparedness. We currently have sufficient inventory for critical patient needs and are working diligently to minimize patient, customer and consumer impact. We are closely monitoring product demand and supply levels across our global network to ensure adequate and effective distribution.”