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While eyes have been on China for signs that COVID-19 might result in drug shortages, India has come up with a surprise of its own. The country, which accounts for about 40% of U.S. generic drugs, has halted exports of more than two dozen APIs and drugs...India’s Directorate General of Foreign Trade today announced it was restricting 26 APIs and formulations until further notice...The government gave no further explanation, but Dinesh Dua, chairman of the Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council of India, told Reuters, “Irrespective of the ban, some of these molecules may face shortages for the next couple of months.” If interruptions from the virus get worse, he said, some shortages may become “acute.”...READ MORE

COVID-19's global spread has raised fears over drug shortages and price spikes, but Novartis' Sandoz is taking an early step to allay those concerns. The drugmaker, a top player in generics and off-patent antibiotics, pledged “stable” pricing for certain essential drugs and antibiotics amid the crisis...No matter how the supply chain situation plays out, Sandoz pledged to “keep prices stable for certain essential medicines it markets commercially," CEO Richard Saynor said in a statement...The commitment comes amid fears that the global supply chain will face disruption from an outbreak that’s so far taken its biggest toll in China, a manufacturing powerhouse where many of the pharmaceutical industry's starting materials are made...READ MORE

Nicole Grassano, PTNN, Pharmacy Week in Review, this weekly video program provides our readers with an in-depth review of the latest news, product approvals, FDA rulings and more.

Two clinical trials testing potential treatments for the new coronavirus spreading from China are getting underway in Nebraska and Washington, marking a step forward in the U.S. efforts to find a therapy or vaccine for the pneumonia-like illness caused by the virus...The trial, which is designed to expand to include new centers and experimental drugs over time, will test first remdesivir, an antiviral originally developed by Gilead for use against the Ebola virus. Experts view the drug as among the more promising existing therapies for potential use against the new coronavirus, now called SARS-CoV-2...READ MORE

The roles that pharmacists in community, hospital and clinical biology can play in preventing the spread of the new coronavirus 2019-nCoV and supporting the efficient management of infection by healthcare systems are outlined in a new document published by the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) today. The document was developed by an emergency taskforce set up by FIP following the World Health Organization’s declaration that the outbreak of 2019-nCoV constitutes a public health emergency of international concern...READ MORE

Christina Mattina, welcome to This Week in Managed Care from the Managed Markets News Network

Although drug shortages due to the novel coronavirus disease outbreak haven’t occurred yet, the FDA and pharmacists are closely watching for potential shortages. Separately, pharmacists should urge Americans to get flu vaccinations and take a cautious approach with coronavirus…“While our primary concern is the health and safety of those affected by the virus, ASHP is concerned with the vulnerability of the pharmaceutical supply chain to threats like the coronavirus outbreak,” Michael Ganio, PharmD, BCPS, director of pharmacy practice and quality at ASHP...An estimated 80% of active pharmaceutical ingredient used in the US market comes from foreign sources. In addition, the FDA has recalled inspectors from China due to the outbreak, which could possibly lead to delays in manufacturing...READ MORE

Gov. Steve Sisolak...delivered a message of unity and calm Friday afternoon as Nevada prepares for possible coronavirus cases...There have been no confirmed cases of coronavirus...in Nevada, Sisolak said, before urging residents to continue practicing basic hygiene methods, such as washing hands with soap and water, coughing into your elbow and staying home from work or school if sick...“We’re going to prepare, not panic,” he said at a press conference in Las Vegas. “We’re going to choose collaboration over chaos.”...READ MORE

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it has been alerted to the first manufacturing shortage of an unnamed drug due to the deadly novel coronavirus outbreak that began in China and has now reached the U.S...FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn said the agency has been "closely monitoring" the medical product supply chain "with the expectation" that the outbreak of the novel coronavirus would "likely" have an impact..."A manufacturer has alerted us to a shortage of a human drug that was recently added to the drug shortages list," Hahn said in a statement Thursday night. "The manufacturer just notified us that this shortage is related to a site affected by coronavirus. The shortage is due to an issue with manufacturing of an active pharmaceutical ingredient used in the drug."...READ MORE

The number of new coronavirus infections inside China - the source of the outbreak - was for the first time overtaken by fresh cases elsewhere...as U.S. markets turned negative on fears over the rapid global spread of the disease...Asia reported hundreds of new cases, Brazil confirmed Latin America’s first infection and the new disease - COVID-19 - also hit Pakistan, Greece and Algeria. Global food conglomerate Nestle suspended all business travel...U.S. health authorities, managing 59 cases so far - mostly Americans repatriated from a cruise ship in Japan - have said a global pandemic is likely…Stock markets across the world have lost $3.3 trillion of value in four days of trading, as measured by the MSCI all-country index...Wall Street reversed earlier gains on Wednesday afternoon on fears that the virus would spread across the United States, and oil prices dropped to their lowest level in over a year...READ MORE