KCCG: Quantities of the drug "Oncotice" insufficient

The quantities of the drug "Oncotica" that the Clinical Center of Montenegro (KCCG) received on Monday are insufficient for the needs of patients at the largest healthcare institution.

This was answered to "Vijesti" by KCCG.

"The Clinical Center of Montenegro was delivered 12 boxes of the drug 'Oncotice' (powder for intravesical suspension 1 x 12.5 mg), which is an insufficient quantity for the needs of our patients. There is a delay in the delivery of the aforementioned drug, which is applied locally to the bladder to patients with bladder cancer," they pointed out.

Since the end of last week, the editorial team has been contacted by patients who were supposed to receive therapy yesterday, but were told by the Clinical Center that the medicine was not available.

The state pharmacy institution "Montefarm" explained to the editorial staff that they delivered certain quantities of the drug to KCCG on Monday, but that there were no bidders for the last tender, which opened on July 4th.

The KCCG reminds that all public healthcare institutions are supplied with medicines and medical supplies through "Montefarma".

"According to information from this institution, the delivery is delayed because there was no bid for the said drug in the ongoing tender, which neither KCCG nor 'Montefarm' could influence. We have also been informed that 'Montefarm' will repeat the tender in a new procurement procedure and that it will inform us of the outcome. The drug is used in newly discovered non-invasive superficial bladder cancer as an additional therapy to reduce the percentage of recurrence. It is an adjuvant therapy whose short-term delay does not endanger the patient's health," they specified.

"Montefarm" previously said that this is a medicine that is often in short supply on the global market.

"'Oncotice' is often in short supply on the international market, and in previous years it was designated as a drug with global supply difficulties, as confirmed by regulatory authorities in several countries. Globally, occasional shortages of OncoTICE occur because the drug is produced exclusively by one manufacturer - the company MSD (Merck) - which further complicates the regular supply of the market," they explained.