From the November 2022 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
In midst of shortage, GE Healthcare ramps up production of contrast agents
In May, GE Healthcare upped the output of its contrast agents following the temporary suspension of operations at its Shanghai factory where all concentrations of its Omnipaque (iohexol) tracers were produced.
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Lasting several weeks, the suspension was initiated due to the COVID-19 lockdown in the city at the end of March 2022. While the factory has reopened and is ramping up production, the company expects there to be an 80% reduction in supplies for the next six to eight weeks. To offset the shortage, it has increased production at its factory in Ireland and is shipping products by air rather than sea from both factories to accelerate deliveries, reports Reuters.
"We are working around the clock to expand capacity of our iodinated contrast media products," a GE spokesperson said after the company closed its Shanghai facility for several weeks. "We are working to return to full capacity as soon as local authorities allow.”
Omnipaque is used in CT, X-ray, and radiography, including for myelography (lumbar, thoracic, cervical, total columnar exams) as well as cisternography and ventriculography. The company has four contrast media manufacturing facilities, including the one in Shanghai. The shortage of Omnipaque and other agents produced there has limited supplies worldwide, including at some of the largest U.S. hospitals, such as Cleveland Clinic, Kaiser Permanente, Mayo Clinic, and Providence in Washington state.
While the Cork factory in Ireland is helping prevent delays in dye delivery, a Providence spokesperson told Reuters that production there would only cover about 20% of normal supply to all customers through the end of June. Most of the U.S. supply comes from Shanghai. As a result, the hospital is prioritizing existing supplies for critical cases such as stroke, trauma, acute aortic syndrome, new cancer diagnoses, pulmonary embolism and acute coronary syndrome.
The effects are also being felt in Europe, where the Association of German Hospitals told Reuters that GE alerted one of its members that its contrast agent could go out of stock in June due to the situation in Shanghai, according to Reuters.
