Health Canada permits temporary import of Chinese-authorized chemo injection drug amid critical shortage

Chemotherapy drugs are administered by IV to a patient at a hospital. Health Canada says for the first time it has allowed the exceptional importation and sale of a Chinese-authorized drug to mitigate a critical shortage of the injectable cancer drug Ifosfamide. (Gerry Broome/The Associated Press)

Photo: (Gerry Broome/The Associated Press)

A chemotherapy ingredient that's in short supply in Canada can temporarily be imported and sold from a Chinese-authorized source instead, Health Canada says.

Amina Zafar (new window) · CBC News

There's a critical shortage (new window) of the injectable cancer drug Ifosfamide, Health Canada said in a notice to health professionals late last month.

The drug is used to treat soft tissue sarcoma, as well as pancreatic and cervical cancer in Canada. Though, some hospitals in Ontario and Quebec have said they are not currently using Ifosfamide to treat cancer patients.

While Health Canada has permitted the exceptional importation of drugs from various foreign countries, this is the first time in which it has allowed the exceptional importation and sale of a Chinese-authorized drug to mitigate a critical shortage, the regulator said in an email response to questions from CBC News.

This Chinese-authorized product has the same active ingredient (ifosfamide), strength (1 g per vial), dosage form (powder for solution), route of administration (intravenous), and instructions for reconstitution and dilution as the Canadian-authorized product in shortage.

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In March, the European Medicines Agency (new window) pointed to an ongoing shortage of Ifosfamide-containing medicines marketed by Baxter that is expected to continue into the first quarter of 2027.

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When shortages hit, it's very rare that the drug supply actually hits zero, said Mina Tadrous, an associate professor at the University of Toronto who studies pharmaceutical policy with a focus on drug-supply shortages.

A large number of pharmaceutical ingredients are produced in China and some get exported to Canada, Tadrous said.

What's unique here is that it's actually a product that was intended for sale in China.

Tadrous said Health Canada has a process to test the products and ensure that the drugs meet Canadian standards, including labelling, to ensure risk to patients is minimized.

Health Canada advised health-care professionals of important differences, such as lower temperature storage instructions for Chinese-authorized Ifosfamide, compared with Canadian-authorized version.

The Canadian regulator also suggested hospitals put a sticker or extra label on the outer carton and vial labels to ensure the product is identified properly and used safely.