IMPORTANT UPDATE – June 26, 2019
In early June Bladder Cancer Canada informed our medical and patient community across Canada that there would be a supply outage of Merck’s OncoTICE® strain of Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) between mid to late June and the end of July due to a manufacturing delay. Read the Bladder Cancer Canada update.
Merck Canada released a statement saying that given the medical necessity of this product and the impact that a prolonged shortage of OncoTICE® could have on the Canadian health care system, they proposed to Health Canada that 3,500 doses of the medication be imported from the United States to help mitigate the disruption in Canada. Health Canada has agreed to this proposal. The product is expected to be received in early July.
Once available, the allocation of this supply will continue to be based on historical orders, as Merck has done since October 2018. The U.S.-labelled product will be available through the customers’ preferred wholesaler.
Read the letter from Merck for more specific details: Letter to HCP Oncotice_HC _Approved (June 26, 2019)
Read the June 18, 2019 public statement from Merck Canada.
Bladder Cancer Canada continues to work with Health Canada to bring a second supplier of BCG to Canada. We will keep you updated as we receive more information.
