Medicine Supply Notification: Glucagon 1mg powder for injection kit (GlucaGen® ) Updated
Update: (18/07/2023)
There will be intermittent supply of GlucaGen® 1mg powder for injection kit until 2024.
All stock must be conserved as much as possible and used carefully as outlined in the MSN which can be found on the Specialist Pharmacy Services (SPS) website.
Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has issued a medicine supply notification for Glucagon 1mg powder for injection kit (GlucaGen®) .
MSN/2023/051
Tier 2 – medium impact
Date of issue 18th May 2023
- There are two glucagon preparations available – GlucaGen® (1mg powder for injection kit) and Ogluo® (0.5mg and 1mg pre-filled auto-injector pens).
- GlucaGen® 1mg powder for injection kit will be unavailable from mid-June 2023 until to mid-July (a period of 4 weeks).
- Ogluo® 0.5mg and 1mg pre-filled auto-injector pens can be used for the treatment of severe hypoglycaemic episodes; however, is not suitable for treatment of beta blocker or other drug overdoses.
- Ogluo® is available to order from the wholesaler, Alliance.
Actions Required
In Primary Care, where patients have insufficient supplies of GlucaGen® to last until the re-supply date, healthcare professionals should:
- Prescribe or administer Ogluo® (glucagon) pre-filled auto-injector pen for the treatment of severe hypoglycaemic episodes;
- Counsel patients how to administer the pre-filled auto-injector pen and
- Limit prescriptions to two devices per patient until normal supply resumes.
Unlicensed imports
The following specialist importers have confirmed they can source The following specialist importers have confirmed they can source some supplies of GlucaGen®
Other importers may also be able to source stock within Europe
If there is currently no listing on dm+d for the imported product for prescribers to select using their prescribing systems an EPS prescription for unlicensed GlucaGen® cannot be issued. Where a prescriber wishes to prescribe a specially manufactured or imported product, an FP10 paper prescription should be issued as ‘ GlucaGen® (Special Order)‘ and endorsed by the pharmacy as a non-Part VIIIB special with the following information:
- Amount dispensed over pack size used;
- Invoice price per pack size from which the order was supplied less any discount or rebate;
- Manufacturers’/importers’ MHRA licence number;
- Batch number of the product supplied;
- SP
A copy of this medicine supply notification, including further information, has been sent to all pharmacy NHS email addresses.
DHSC and NHSE/I have now launched an online Medicines Supply Tool, which provides up to date information about medicine supply issues. The contents of these MSNs can now be viewed on the Tool.
The Tool also details any changes to resupply dates and updates to the entries.
To access the Tool you will need an NHS email address. Once set up and logged in, you will be able to access it online.
New shortages not listed on the SPS website, can be reported using our shortage reporting tool.
