I’ve just got off the phone from Advanz customer care. I spoke to Pratik (02085889273).
He said that there is plenty of supply of Mercury Pharma and he asked that any pharmacy that is having problems can call him direct about ordering. He said ( I’m only quoting him) . There is no supply issue 🤷♀️
Also that MP has NOT gone into administration 🤷♀️
So there it is ……apparently
Advanz Customer Care 0208 588 9273 Pratik.
helvella hope this helps 😬
Very helpful - thank you.
The underlying story - that numerous pharmacists say there are supply issues with a company's products - is common enough.
Also common is that if you actually contact the company, they either say there is no issue, or advise how pharmacists can obtain product, if they are having issues.
Unfortunately we hardly ever get to the bottom of the issue - the reason pharmacies seem to have failed to supply the product we need. I have often suspected distributor issues.
PS: I feel it best if someone who is actually having issues rings the company. Someone like me ringing would not be able to supply details. Which pharmacy. What area of the country. And so on.
I think each pharmacy uses its own distribution company ( I’m guessing that) so if they contact Advanz directly can they order from them without having to use their distributors?
If you go to the British National Formulary (BNF), and look up a medicine and its medicinal forms, it lists the companies who supply that medicine:
bnf.nice.org.uk/medicinal-f...
However, there is a major confusion as to whether the company names listed in the BNF are of manufacturers/importers - or distributors.
For example, for 12.5 microgram tablets, five company names are listed. But there is only one product - that from Teva. In this case, I guess Teva themselves import it from their manufacturing plant in Croatia then send some on to each of the other four companies.
As I move around, I very often see AAH vans delivering medicines to pharmacies. They are a part of the group that own the Northstar brand and Lloyds pharmacies.
Alliance is part of the group that owns Boots pharmacies.
But getting to understand how they actually work isn't easy for outsiders.
You can view or download a list of all registered wholesale and distribution companies:
gov.uk/government/publicati...
But that doesn't help much as there are hundreds of entries, and some companies are registered multiple times. And I think even if you only have a tiny operation, you need to be registered.
I suspect that there are issues such as some companies only dealing with certain geographic regions. Or even the need to have more than one route of distribution for resilience.
Each pharmacy will need to have an account with each company they deal with.
I'd be very happy if anyone could explain how the whole system works! 
I'm confused just reading that, it sounds like a minefield getting to who distributes what and where and how much.
For us - who are totally outside the industry - it is a minefield.
And it certainly isn't as simple as each pharmacy gets a delivery each day from one company.
Some of the companies listed will have a warehouse and deliver to the direct-to-pharmacy distributors.
We have seen that some companies will post out products to individual pharmacies.
We shouldn't need to know and understand. Unfortunately, we keep finding situations in which we do need to know more.
I asked the BNF people why they don't just list the licensed products. They simply washed their hands of the issue.
I spoke with my GP one day who insisted there were five makes of 12.5 microgram levothyroxine. And I had to put him right.
Yes I also called MercuryPharma and got the same positive response. Only called because when I was going to pick up my usual repeat prescription....the usual story "out of stock" which of cause is not true but so infuriating.
Unfortunately I’ve been unable to get throughout that number or others very similar which all seem to be part of the Mercury Pharma group in ADDISCOMBE, Croydon. The answerphone message ( which is the same for all the numbers I tried) ask you to continue to hold as they’re very busy than after a few minutes of music, a voice mail message cuts in and promptly cuts you off. I’ve left messages which have never been replied to either!. Certainly no sign of Practik!
Interestingly I tried phoning Advanze directly in Jersey, surprise surprise it’s the same number as Mercury Pharma ADDISCOMBE!
Mercury Pharma Shortage? 
Cant get Mercury Pharma
Problems getting Mercury Pharma Levothyroxine
Boots in Derbyshire no longer supplying Mercury Pharma Liothyronine
