But shortages could last until middle of next year

WOMEN could be forced to wait up to ten months for some HRT products to return to the shelves.

GPs and pharmacies are struggling to supply many leading brands due to manufacturing shortages and supply problems.

Among the products expected to be out of stock soon are those manufactured by the companies Resource Medical, Themex and Mylan. Experts warn some might not be available again until ‘mid-2020’.

Zul Akram, of Resource Medical, said the company had been struggling to find a manufacturer for the UK market, adding that it had recently decided not to renew its Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency licence. ‘The market is such that we were being under-prescribed in comparison to the bigger brands, such as Elleste [Mylan] and, therefore, wasting more than half of our stock,’ he said.

A shortage of the Themex products FemSeven Conti and Sequi has been caused by quality issues with the adhesive that keeps the patches attached to the skin.

It said that the products are unlikely to be back in stock until next year and that it was unable to suggest alternatives.

Meanwhile supplies of Evorel, Evorel Conti, and Evorel Sequi, manufactured by Janssen-Cilag, are expected to run out by October. The company said it was experiencing ‘an unprecedented increase in demand for the Evorel range of products, due in part to the lack of availability of alternative HRT not produced by Janssen’.