Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) said it will restore unrestricted access to the cancer drug Doxil, as the company releases remaining supplies and expects to transition to newly manufactured product in the near future. The company said Monday it is suspending the allocation program that it put in place last year to manage a Doxil shortage that arose due to difficulties at contract manufacturer Ben Venue Laboratories. The allocation program required doctors to submit requests for patients, and the drug was provided on a first-come, first-served basis. J&J will release the remaining supply of Doxil that was in reserve for its allocation program. This supply was manufactured before Ben Venue, a unit of Boehringer Ingelheim, suspended production at its Ohio plant last year to fix problems including contamination. To ensure continuity of supply once the reserve runs out, J&J expects to have newly manufactured Doxil soon. “We’ve made significant progress on our plans to resupply the market with newly manufactured Doxil and anticipate seamlessly bridging to newly manufactured product in the near future,” Robert Bazemore, president of J&J’s Janssen Products division, said in a letter posted online Monday.
