ISPE Previews Drug Shortages Prevention Plan

ISPE announced on Aug. 27 that it released a preview of its Drug Shortages Prevention Plan, developed by ISPE’s Drug Shortages Task Team, aimed at helping the pharmaceutical industry avoid drug shortages, identify root causes, create and sustain organizational cultures, and maintain a robust and reliable supply of medications to patients world-wide. The Introductory Summary to the Plan released on Aug. 27 provides a first look at what is covered in the complete Plan.

“Our goal is that the pharmaceutical industry will use the Plan not only to help them look holistically across the supply chain, but also as a roadmap to use in challenging their current processes, systems and practices and to identify potential gaps and risks,” said ISPE CEO and president, Nancy Berg.

According to Berg, ISPE’s 2013 study on drug shortages provided clear evidence that mitigating shortages requires a holistic approach that includes careful alignment of organizational aspects, people, as well as the technical aspects of process and production in understanding risks and signals indicating a drug shortage may be possible.

The ISPE Drug Shortages Task Team will release the complete Drug Shortages Prevention Plan during the 2014 ISPE Annual Meeting that will be held Oct. 12-15 in Las Vegas, Nevada, US.

Source: ISPE