• Mayo Clinic joins coalition to end drug shortages

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Mayo Clinic has joined the End Drugs Shortages Alliance, a coalition that seeks to prevent drug shortages in the U.S.

"Drug shortages continue to impact patient care and care delivery. Mayo Clinic is joining this collaborative effort to help ensure patients have access to essential medications and treatments when they need them," says Eric Tichy, Pharm.D., division chair of Pharmacy Supply Solutions at Mayo Clinic. Tichy is serving as chair of the alliance's board.

Drug shortages continue to be a major health care issue in the U.S., with more than 200 ongoing and active shortages per year since 2018. Mayo Clinic has taken a leadership role in combating drug shortages. Mayo was a founding member of Civica Rx, a nonprofit generic drug company whose goal is to reduce shortages of essential medications that hospitals use. Civica Rx also recently announced plans to manufacture and distribute affordable insulin.

The End Drug Shortages Alliance was launched in late 2021 to bring together industry stakeholders, including health care providers, group purchasing organizations, manufacturers, distributors and other industry thought leaders and champions.

The alliance's objectives include:

  • Transparency and redundancy, including an early alert system for drug shortages.
  • Quality, including identifying and prioritizing what medications are needed clinically in urgent situations.
  • Production of additional supply, in part by gaining commitments from manufacturers of essential medications to provide the alliance with advanced notice when exiting the market or significantly reducing supply.

These efforts will focus on improving access to medications through greater transparency across market participants, leading to improved quality manufacturing of medications and production of additional supply.

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About End Drug Shortages Alliance
The End Drugs Shortages Alliance is a collaboration of select health systems, supply chain, industry and other stakeholders including group purchasing organizations, manufacturers, distributors and other industry thought leaders dedicated to solving the pharmaceutical supply challenges that disrupt access to essential medications in the U.S. We prioritize initiatives focused on transparency, quality, redundancy and production of additional supply to achieve undisrupted access to essential medications for health care providers and patients.

About Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit organization committed to innovation in clinical practice, education and research, and providing compassion, expertise and answers to everyone who needs healing. Visit the Mayo Clinic News Network for additional Mayo Clinic news.

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