Zuellig says Tocilizumab, drug used in COVID-19 treatment, now out of stock

Tocilizumab (Actemra)—one of the medicines used for treating COVID-19 patients—has been out of stock amid the surge of COVID-19 cases in the country.

This is based on a notice issued by Zuellig Pharma to its clients in the Philippines dated March 19, 2021 obtained by GMA News Online on Thursday. Zuellig Pharma serves as the distributor of Tocilizumab (Actemra) in the Philippines.

“This is to inform you that we are currently experiencing an out of stock situation for all SKUs Tocilizumab (Actemra) due to the sudden surge in the demand,” the document read.

The National Institute of Health of the United States describes Tocilizumab as “a recombinant humanized anti-interleukin (IL)-6 receptor monoclonal antibody approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of certain rheumatologic disorders and cytokine release syndrome induced by chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR-T cell) therapy” that may reduce the duration and/or severity of COVID-19 illness.

Zuellig Pharma Philippines, however, assured the public that it is undertaking efforts to make it available in the Philippines as soon as possible.

“Acknowledging the great need for the medicine, we are continuously monitoring the situation and finding ways and means to bring and make stocks available to the Philippines,” the company said in its March 19 notice.

It cited that Roche (Philippines) Inc. has already initiated the process of importing Tocilizumab (Actemra) and that  “it may be available by mid-April 2021.”

“We take this opportunity to inform you that given the constraints on available supply, we will be processing and responding to orders of our medicines strictly on “First Order, First Served” basis, while observing guidelines to help give account to how many patients, being served in different hospitals, as possible,” it added.

Zuellig Pharma Philippines, in a separate statement sent to GMA News Online, confirmed issuing the March 19 notice but clarified that Roche would be better informed of the supply situation.

"As the official distributor of Roche, this is to confirm that the document you reference was sent by us for sole use of our trade partners such as hospitals to inform them of the current supply situation," the company said.

"Our role as a distributor is limited to warehouse storage and delivery of products. For all questions regarding the supply, inventory and purchases of Tocilizumab (Actemra) please contact Roche for more information," it added.

The Philippines has been recording 4,000 to 8,000 new COVID-19 cases per day in the last two weeks, prompting the government to prevent non-essential trips to and from NCR Plus bubble—an area composed of Metro Manila and adjacent provinces Bulacan, Laguna, Rizal and Cavite.

The number of active COVID-19 cases in the Philippines is at 91,754. -NB, GMA News