Advanz Pharma, levothyroxine AND liothyronine

[helvella]

UPDATED 16 October 2022

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I am adding this note because so many have had such difficulty in obtaining all Advanz Pharma/Mercury Pharma products since this was posted.

I think we have to assume there are major problems with Advanz Pharma thyroid products. But we do not know why it is so spectacularly awful.

I'll not update this post any further. If we find out more, I will write a new post.

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In the past few months we have had numerous claims that there are problems with Advanz Pharma (who own the Mercury Pharma brand).

The claims have included:

• Advanz Pharma have gone into liquidation - which is NOT true

• Mercury Pharma Levothyroxine is not available - which is NOT true

• Mercury Pharma Liothyronine is not available - which is NOT true

• Mercury Pharma products are being rebranded as Advanz Pharma - which is NOT true

In order to try to address them, I contacted Advanz Pharma, received a phone call and received the following very clear email as a summary:

Dear ,

Thank you for contacting ADVANZ PHARMA customer care department.

As discussed in our phone conversation, we were unaware of the “issues” patients were experiencing posted on these forums which you brought to our attention.

We would like to reinforce ADVANZ PHARMA is owned by Nordic Capital, an experienced and successful Private Equity investor. We therefore benefit from the full support of a strong and committed financial partner who is investing in the future growth of the Business. ADVANZ PHARMA is trading as normal and as detailed below we are in stock of the products you mention (please note Mercury Pharma is an entity under the ADVANZ PHARMA umbrella).

We have also validated that our wholesale customers are also in stock of our products. Please disregard the indirect information notified to you via unsolicited platforms outside of our control.

With regard to the products you highlight, please find below the current status of each:

◉ Levothyroxine tablets: In stock. No recent supply problems for any Eltroxin and Mercury Pharma Levothyroxine tablets.

◉ Liothyronine tablet: In stock. No supply issues.

◉ Carbimazole tablets: We only currently market the 20mg strength (NeoMercazole). All other strengths are discontinued for the foreseeable future.

We hope this clarifies the issues raised on the forum.

Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Regards,

Kit

Kit Britten

VP, UK & Ireland Commercial

Why pharmacies think Mercury Pharma is not available:

I’ll add that there is no evidence Advanz Pharma are rebranding Mercury Pharma products. I suspect that this is being seen by pharmacies due to their ordering systems. That is, they see a supplier, Advanz Pharma, and a product, levothyroxine or liothyronine, and are jumping to the conclusion the branding will be Advanz. Maybe they look for Mercury Pharma and don't find that name? (I have checked and the MHRA site has no product documents for these products branded as Advanz Pharma.)

Unfortunately, despite posting this on several threads, members have continued to repeat these suggestions. Hence, I am posting again as a separate post. This will have replying turned off and it will be pinned.

If I become aware of ANY issues, I will update this post, or remove it and post again.

If you become aware of any issues, please let us know.

However, if you do have supply issues, I still recommend the following:

When someone reports that a particular medicine cannot be obtained by their pharmacy, I always suggest they consider contacting the pharmaceutical company/manufacturer directly.

We have had many occasions when the information given by the pharmacy to the member has not been accurate.

Examples with good outcomes have included:

• There were issues, but they are now, or will very shortly be, resolved;

• There is no issue and it is not clear why the pharmacy said there was;

• The product has a new branding - and is now only available under the new name;

• Give the pharmacist some information and they will be able to get the product.

And examples with bad outcomes:

• The product is no longer available;

• There is an issue that will not be resolved in the time required;

• The product has been recalled.

Quite often, members have found that the pharmaceutical company/manufacturer can and will advise how a pharmacy can obtain stock. At the worst, you can find out from an authoritative source that there really is an issue that will not be resolved. With pharmacies, you will almost always have at least one extra company - the distributor - between the pharmaceutical company/manufacturer and the pharmacy, allowing confusion to enter.

Chain pharmacies can make things more difficult by preventing individual pharmacists ordering directly from companies. Even then, they can ring the manufacturer and pass on information to others in their organisation.

Some pharmaceutical companies/manufacturers have been extremely helpful to members who have contacted them.

The company name is not always the same as the brand name. You can find the company name on the packaging (though in smaller letters and possibly on the back or bottom) and at the bottom of the Patient Information Leaflet. For example, Mercury Pharma is a brand name but the company is Advanz.

Contact details for most, possibly all, UK pharmaceutical companies/manufacturers can be found here:

medicines.org.uk/emc/browse...

Or the British National Formulary's list:

bnf.nice.org.uk/guidance/in...