drug shortages

In an FDA analysis of 163 drugs in shortage from 2013 to 2017, generic sterile injectables made up roughly half of the sample

The generic drug supply chain sprawls across the globe and is pretty opaque. Manufacturers are required to report to the FDA when there’s a disruption that could impact supply, but the details aren’t always shared with the public and can be protected as proprietary information

Only about 30% of API manufacturing facilities that supply ingredients for drugs for the US market are themselves based in the US. The rest are spread across places like India, China, and the EU

paradox with generic injectables in particular: an intensive manufacturing process with very low profit margins.