Shortage of Pegasys Interferon

[Mazcd]

We are aware that some countries may be experiencing a shortage in the supply of Pegasys Interferon and would like to reassure you various UK Health Bodies and MPN experts have this under review and that it is not an immediate problem in the UK.

We will update further once we have more information.

[Foxton99]

thank you for that reassurance

[Purple478273]

what countries are experiencing the shortage?

[Manouche in reply to Purple478273]

“Paris – France is currently experiencing a shortage of Pegasys (peginterferon-alpha-2a), a drug indicated for certain chronic viral hepatitis and malignant hematological diseases.

Access to healthcare has not yet become a major issue in the current very short electoral campaign, which will result in a new Assembly on July 7. However, health is one of the main concerns of the French. They are worried about difficulties in accessing their medications, as French pharmacies have been facing recurring shortages and supply tensions for several years.

In 2023, the National Agency for the Safety of Medicines (ANSM) issued nearly 5,000 reports of stock shortages, an increase of 31% year-on-year. It is partly to protest against these repeated incidents that pharmacists went on strike on May 30.

These shortages regularly make headlines in the mainstream media when they concern very common drugs, such as pediatric amoxicillin, paracetamol, or more recently salbutamol. But some much less known but equally essential drugs are also experiencing supply difficulties. This is the case with Pegasys, a drug prescribed, among other things, for certain hematological cancers.

**Patient Associations Are Worried**

On June 14, the French laboratory Cheplapharm, which markets peginterferon-alpha-2a, warned the ANSM that Pegasys was facing severe supply tensions and that no return to normal would be possible before March 2025. This situation is particularly worrying for specialist doctors and patients.

"Pegasys helps prevent sometimes fatal complications of these diseases, such as thrombosis," explains Professor Jean-Jacques Kiladjian, a hematologist at Saint-Louis Hospital in Paris, to Le Parisien. "For some patients who are resistant to other treatments, there is really no alternative." The specialist says he receives "several messages from worried patients every day."

Cheplapharm explains these supply difficulties by the significant increase in global demand and its difficulties in keeping up. To remedy these difficulties in the long term, the company will invest 140 million euros in the factory that produces the molecule.

For the patient associations "LMC France" and "Living with an MPN," the shortage is also explained, as with other drugs, by the price: Pegasys is said to be sold cheaper in France than in other European countries, and Cheplapharm would therefore prioritize our neighbors in the supply of the drug. This information is denied by the company, which explains that these supply difficulties "are not specific to France."

**Case-by-Case Solutions but No Long-Term Solutions**

In a joint statement, the two patient associations also point to the existence of a "monopoly on alpha interferon" as the cause of this shortage. Indeed, since 2020, Pegasys has been the only alpha interferon marketed in France. Many other European countries (Germany, Italy, Netherlands...) have also marketed Besremi (ropeginterferon alpha-2b), indicated in the treatment of polycythemia vera.

The patient associations are asking the authorities to take measures to allow the importation of Besremi and authorize it to be prescribed and reimbursed in the treatment of hematological cancers.

The ANSM is reportedly studying "importation alternatives not available in France, such as Besremi." The drug watchdog has also banned the export of Pegasys and assures that "current stocks can cover needs for 3 to 5 months depending on dosages."

For now, it is these kinds of case-by-case solutions that manage, more or less, to ensure access to medications for the French. But long-term solutions are lacking. In recent years, the government has opened a few avenues, such as price increases, the relocation of the pharmaceutical industry to France, or the establishment of mandatory strategic stocks, but none have yet truly borne fruit. So here is another thorny issue that the next government, regardless of its political color, will have to tackle”