Rx-360 warns Pharmas of potential L-Arginine shortage
In an alert published yesterday Rx-360 suggested that pharmaceutical manufacturers contact their suppliers, check supply chains for potential vulnerabilities and perform analytical testing on each batch of the amino acid they receive.
The warning follows a report by North Carolina, US-based supplier Doe & Ingalls’ (D&I) that an increase in demand from the healthcare sector had lengthened L-Arginine production timelines.
“Recently, increased demand for sensitive teeth formulations of toothpaste has caused the L-Arginine market to tighten. With this increased demand, we have heard reports of backorders lasting from Q2 2012 up to Q1 2013.
D&I added that it is working with partners to fill backorder demand, but also recommended that pharmaceutical manufacturers try to forecast their L-Arginine needs for the next two quarters to ensure suppliers are available.
L-Arginine is widely used in drug production – primarily in the manufacture of pharmaceutical intermediates but also – increasingly - as an additive in the manufacturing of biologic drugs to prevent protein aggregation and boost yields.
