UK 'pretty much out' of life-saving drug Creon - as 3 in 10 unable to pick up prescription due to medicine shortages

12 July 2024, 08:21

The UK has “pretty much run out” of a life-saving drug used by tens of thousands of people with cancer and Cystic Fibrosis - and may not be able to get a consistent supply until 2025.

Creon is a drug which replaces enzymes typically produced by the pancreas, allowing patients with a shortage of these key proteins to absorb the nutrients from the food they consume.

Around 61,000 people require such medication, and without access to these drugs, users can suffer from malnutrition. As well as affecting their quality of life, if a patient is undergoing cancer treatment, this lack of nourishment can result in them being unable to continue chemotherapy.

Olivier Picard, vice chairman of the National Pharmacy Association, told LBC that supply issues will continue for the foreseeable future:

“We have heard on the grapevine that the stock will not be hitting our shelves until December 2024, so we could be going into 2025 before we have a constant supply of medication.

"There may be a little bit of stock here-and-there [but] it probably won’t be enough to supply everyone with what they need.

“The government put in emergency measures when they heard about the Creon situation, saying you’ve got to limit a patient to a month’s supply of medication… [but] this could be ten-to-twelve boxes with 100 capsules.

“It’s very difficult to ration people and say ‘I can only give you one box’”, Mr Picard added, recounting a recent encounter he had with a patient he was unable to supply with Creon.

“She said ‘my husband needs it, we have none left’, and that’s really where we are at the moment - the situation is absolutely dire.”

London-based Diane Westwood has been reliant on Creon since having a tumor removed from her pancreas twelve years ago. She told LBC the anxiety caused by supply shortages has resulted in her losing sleep and that she had enlisted help from across the country to get her hands on Creon.

“I have friends in Lancashire and Middlesbrough on the look out for me and no luck”, Ms Westwood said, “but the pharmacists are saying these shortages are until 2026. The other day, I spent three hours phoning 40-50 pharmacies in my area, and not a single one had Creon.”

But medicine shortages are not confined to the supply of Creon.

Mr Picard’s warning comes as new research by the National Pharmacy Association  shared exclusively with LBC suggests three in ten people were unable to pick up a prescription last year owing to medicine shortages.

When supply of a given medicine is constrained, the Department for Health and Social Care will intervene with a Serious Shortage Protocol (SSP), which alerts pharmacies to the extent of the problem and permits them to offer patients an alternative quantity or strength of medicines.

Recent analysis suggests that there was a 250% increase in the issuing of SSPs in the previous two years compared to the preceding two.

As well as those suffering from pancreatic conditions, people with conditions ranging from angina to epilepsy, anaphylaxis, depression, thyroid problems and whooping cough have also been unable to get their hands on critical medicine.

In May 2024, the Department of Health and Social Care issued four SSPs over the course of just three days. For context, this is the same number that were issued in the entirety of 2020.

Whilst disruption to the supply chains of a host of medicines have been felt across the globe, there are fears that the problems in the UK are being exacerbated by Brexit.

In April, the Nuffield Trust published a report warning that Britain’s decision to leave the European Union had led to some drug manufacturers removing the UK from their supply chains.

The pressures on the supply of these drugs will put strengthen calls for the Labour Party to redefine parts of the UK’s Brexit agreement with the EU. Earlier this week, new Science Minister, Lord Patrick Vallance, conceded that Brexit was “definitely a problem” for science.

However, the National Pharmacy Association has pointed to other factors. Mr Picard suggests that the squeezing of community pharmacy funding, which is down by 40% in real terms since 2016, has resulted in chemists being unable to offer enough cash to drug manufacturers:

“It gets to the point where a manufacturer will say ‘at that price, it’s not worth me making it’, and they’ll withdraw from the UK market and sell their products to the French, Germans and Italians because they give a fairer price.

“Some of the medicine we buy is not just cheaper than a chocolate bar, but as cheap as eight or nine pence for a box of medicine… you can’t go to your corner shop and buy a sugary drink or chocolate bar for less than sixty or eight pence - but you can get a box of medicine for that price.

There is a time where the drug manufacturers say ‘enough is enough’ - and we’re seeing more and more manufacturers withdrawing from the market or redirecting stock where they get a better return.”

Approached for comment about the supply of Creon and other medicines, a DHSC spokesperson said: “We are aware of supply issues affecting Creon and are working with the manufacturer to ensure that action is taken to help mitigate risks to patients while they address those issues.

“We have provided comprehensive guidance to healthcare professionals about these supply issues and how to manage and advise patients while there is disruption to supply.

“We advise any patient with concerns to speak to their clinician.”

Viatris, the pharmaceutical company which manufactures Creon, were also approached for comment.