PRESIDENT’S UPDATE September 2020
At Auburn we source most of each of our products from only one source. We base our decision on cost as well as supply. One of the items that we have always had two sources for is levothyroxine. Because of all of the different sku’s it’s always been a challenge getting a consistent supply and because of the nature of the drug many of our customers don’t want to switch based on cost.
A few years ago we carried the Lannett brand which was made for them for many years by JSP. Eventually the contract ran out and Lannett got out of the item. At that time, we found a new low price and recently approved source, Alvogen. We added this to our line along with the Sandoz brand that many customers preferred.
Sandoz had sourced their product for many years from another company, Cediprof. Recently Cediprof canceled their contract with Sandoz and instead begun supplying it to, you guessed it, Lannett.
So, we are now sourcing our levothyroxine from Alvogen and Lannett. Keep in mind, the Lannett product is now the same product that Sandoz had been supplying, the only difference is the label.
We have two sources for levothyroxine: 1) Alvogen that is slightly less expensive and 2) Lannett. Both are good products, and both have very good prices. If you were using Sandoz you can get the same product with the Lannett label at a slightly lower price through Auburn. We presently have every sku in stock from both suppliers.
Throughout the Covid-19 problems we have all experienced, the FDA continues to approve new generics at a pretty rapid pace. Based on what we are hearing from the manufacturers, it looks like there are still some pretty good new approvals expected to launch before the end of this year. Following are just a few of the items that we are hoping to see along with the estimated brand market, Tecfidera ($3.9B), Truvada (3.4B), Chantix ($1.2B), Vascepa ($847M), Atripla ($732M), Tykerb ($67M), Saphris ($255M), Lantus ($4.9B) and Tirosint ($96M).