Additional provides of hormone substitute remedy merchandise may very well be shipped to the UK from France and Poland as quickly as subsequent week, a significant producer has mentioned after disaster conferences have been held to handle the nationwide scarcity.
Tina Backhouse, the overall UK supervisor at Theramex, which makes a couple of dozen HRT medication, together with Bijuva drugs and Femseven patches, mentioned the corporate wanted particular permission to herald merchandise from France that weren’t licensed within the UK. Theramex’s merchandise are primarily made in Germany, and a few are solely licensed in different European international locations.
Backhouse met the UK’s newly appointed HRT tsar, Madelaine McTernan, and the Medicines and Healthcare merchandise Regulatory Company this week and expects to acquire consent after an extra assembly with the company on Monday.
“We’re working with MHRA to get particular permission. It’s not an uncommon factor, different corporations do it,” she mentioned. “I don’t suppose it will likely be lengthy, we’ve acquired it [the stock] prepared.”
Theramex, a non-public equity-owned pharmaceutical agency based mostly in London, can also be making ready to herald HRT patches from Poland, that are licensed within the UK however want English labels.
“We’re searching for short-term options in addition to longer-term options when it comes to bringing different merchandise from different international locations in,” Backhouse mentioned.
The UK seems to be the one nation with a scarcity of HRT merchandise. It was triggered by a surge in demand after the TV presenters Davina McCall and Mariella Frostrup spoke about their menopause experiences.
Besins Healthcare, a privately owned agency based mostly in Brussels which makes the most well-liked oestrogen gel product, mentioned on Thursday that it was “taking a look at all choices for growing short-term provides of Oestrogel into the UK”.
The British Menopause Society and HRT producers are calling for different measures, together with a nationwide listing or “formulary” of accredited HRT medicines that may permit all medical doctors and pharmacists to prescribe whichever merchandise can be found.
When native medical commissioning teams have been created in England in 2013, many beforehand national-level resolution making and budgetary powers handed to them. This implies there could be delays in sure areas of the nation when new medication are licensed.
Backhouse mentioned: “We have now model new merchandise on this nation which can be licensed however aren’t getting used due to formulary restrictions. At this stage certainly we should always have a nationwide formulary of HRTs which can be out there and in inventory, reasonably than ready for each particular person locality to try this. It will be really easy to do.”
She mentioned Theramex had a brand new MHRA-approved product that was solely being prescribed in three areas, or used privately by girls paying for it themselves.
The Nationwide Pharmacy Affiliation has additionally lobbied for pharmacists’ to have the facility to vary prescriptions made by GPs when sure merchandise will not be out there.
