Some lamotrigine products are in shortage according to information provided by pharmaceutical companies on drugshortages.ca.
Last update: June 30, 2016
Current shortages:
- Apo-Lamotrigine 100mg tablets
Drug identification number (DIN): 02245209
Estimated resupply date:June 30August 31September 30, 2016
Reason: No explanation provided - Apo-Lamotrigine 150mg tablets
Drug identification number (DIN): 02245210
Estimated resupply date:June 30August 31September 30, 2016
Reason: No explanation provided - PMS-Lamotrigine 150mg tablets
Drug identification number (DIN): 02246899
Estimated resupply date:July 25July 15, 2016
Reason: No explanation provided - Lamotrigine-100 100mg tablets
Drug Identification number (DIN): 02302985
Estimated resupply date:August 31September 30, 2016
Reason: No explanation provided - Lamotrigine-150 150mg tablets
Drug Identification number (DIN): 02302993
Estimated resupply date: September 30, 2016
Reason: No explanation provided
Resolved shortages:
- Lamictal 100mg tablets
Drug identification number (DIN): 02142104
Product available again as of April 11, 2016
Reason: Unexpected Demand - Apo-Lamotrigine 25mg tablets
Drug identification number (DIN): 02245208
Product available again as of November 18, 2015
Reason: No explanation provided
Discontinued products:
- Ratio-Lamotrigine (all strengths) – DISCONTINUED
This discontinuation has not been posted on drugshortages.ca
Lamotrigine products that are presumably available:
As of May 13, 2016 the following lamotrigine products are not listed as current shortages on drugshortages.ca and presumably are available:
- Apotex Inc.’s Apo-Lamotrigine (25mg) – The shortage of 25mg strength Apo-Lamotrigine tablets was resolved last fall. A resolved drug shortage notification was posted on drugshortages.ca on November 18, 2015
Note: see above for information about 100mg and 150mg Apo-Lamotrigine - Auro Pharma Inc. – This company has not reported any shortages of lamotrigine
- GSK’s Lamictal (all strenghts) – There are no current shortage notifications for Lamictal on drugshortages.ca
- Mylan Pharmaceuticals – This company has not reported any shortages of lamotrigine
- Pharmascience Inc (25mg and 100mg) – This company has not reported any shortages of these two strengths of lamotrigine
Note: see above for information about 150mg PMS-Lamotrigine - Pro Doc Limitee (25mg) – distributed in Quebec
Note: Pro Doc has reported a shortage of LAMOTRIGINE-100 and LAMOTRIGINE-150 - Sanis Health Inc – May not be distributed in Ontario (?)
- Sivem Pharmaceuticals – Not distributed in Ontario
- Teva-Lamotrigine – This company has not reported any shortages of lamotrigine
What does this mean for people with epilepsy who take lamotrigine?
The best source of information about the supply of your medications is your pharmacist.
Several companies market lamotrigine in Canada. Three pharmaceutical companies are reporting a shortage of some tablet strengths. As of May 2016, none of the other companies that market this drug have indicated any current prolems with their lamotrigine supply on the national voluntary reporting website drugshortages.ca.
Click here for answers to frequently asked questions about drug shortages.
If you need information or assistance regarding a drug shortage, please contact Epilepsy Ontario by calling 1-800-463-1119 or email [email protected].
Also, please let us know if a drug shortage is causing problems and if you are unable to get your medication.
Background:
Apotex Inc., a major generic pharmaceutical company, initially posted drug shortage notifications of all three tablet strengths of Apo-Lamotrigine (25mg, 100mg, and 150mg) on drugshortages.ca in May and June 2015.
In November 2015, the shortages of Apotex’s 25mg and 150mg Apo-Lamotrigine tablets were listed as resolved on drugshortages.ca.
The 100mg Apo-Lamotrigine tablets have continued to be in shortage since last spring. The estimated resupply date for this strength tablet keeps changing. At the beginning of the year, the resupply date provided by the company was March 31, 2016. In early February, Apotex Inc. changed the estimated resupply date to May 31, 2016. In late March, the estimated resupply date for the 100mg tablets was changed to June 30, 2016 and the 150mg tablets were also posted again on the notification website. The resupply dates were initially extended to August 31, 2016, and in June were extended yet again to September 30, 2016.
Apotex Inc. has not provided any explanation for the shortages of Apo-Lamotrigine tablets.
On March 10, GlaxoSmithKline Inc. posted a drug shortage notification for the 100mg brand name tablets, Lamictal, due to unexpected demand. This shortage was resolved in April.
On April 8, Pro Doc Limitee posted a drug shortage notification for 100mg lamotirgine tablets. On June 10, the 150mg tablets marketed by Pro Doc were added to the drugshortages.ca website. No explanation provided.
On April 18, Pharmascience posted a drug shortage notification for the 150mg PMS-Lamotrigine tablets. No explanation has been provided.
