The role of outsourcing facilities in overcoming drug shortages

The Drug Quality and Security Act passed in 2013 created a new voluntary category of compounders, referred to as outsourcing facilities. The regulatory landscape allows these facilities to compound on a larger scale in comparison with the typical compounding pharmacies, which positions them to potentially serve a role in overcoming drug shortages.

The purpose of this article is to identify the number of drug products on shortage as reported by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that were also compounded by outsourcing facilities.

All current and resolved drug shortages through January 27, 2020, as reported by FDA, were compared with the 503B product reports from July 2018 through June 2019 submitted to FDA by outsourcing facilities. The active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) and dosage form for each product on shortage were compared with the 503B product reports to identify similarities.

There were 344 unique APIs on the FDA drug shortage list and 774 unique APIs on the 503B product reports. After comparison of the APIs on the drug shortage list with those on the product reports, 27% of unique APIs (74 of 272) were included on both lists, and of these, 18% (50 of 272) of the APIs on the drug shortage list were compounded by outsourcing facilities in the same dosage form as what was on shortage.

The regulatory landscape positions outsourcing facilities to play an important role in providing access to medications while on shortage. However, when comparing the drugs on shortage as reported by FDA with the 503B product reports, there was minimal overlap. Additional research into why outsourcing facilities are not taking on a larger role in overcoming drug shortages should be explored.