DOH: Limited supply of tocilizumab seen until December

MANILA, Philippines — The supply of arthritis drug tocilizumab, which is used to treat hospitalized COVID-19 patients, will remain limited until the end of the year, an official from the Department of Health said Thursday.

Dr. Melissa Guerrero, chief of the agency’s pharmaceutical division, said the surge in infections driven by the hyper contagious Delta variant has led to the shortage of tocilizumab.

"The manufacturer has already notified that there will really be some severe stockouts until December 2021. This is because of the Delta wave that is being experienced across countries and therefore the increase in global demand for these products," Guerrero said in an interview with ABS-CBN News Channel.

Over the weekend, the National Kidney and Transplant Institute said it would temporarily suspend dispensing tocilizumab and antiviral drug remdesivir due to dwindling supplies.

The DOH official said the government is also monitoring the supply of remdesivir.

"For remdesivir, I think the demand and the supply is more stable," Guerrero said.

"But at the supply side, there’s a critical level already so we are making sure and doing our best to communicate with the industry in order to facilitate the restocking in order to prepare for the worst case scenario," she added.

Guerrero also cautioned the public against taking off-label medications without a doctor’s prescription.

"They should be in a hospital. The medicine should be prescribed by a doctor, should be administered by a doctor. They cannot just access the drugs in the black market," she said.

The Philippines is battling a resurgence in COVID-19 infections, with daily case rates reaching the highest levels since that start of the pandemic. The government has so far recorded over two million cases, including 33,533 deaths. — Gaea Katreena Cabico