If you’ve been looking for generic flunixin meglumine to stock in your truck and clinic, you might have run into a backorder issue on generic products ranging from injectable to paste formulations. It turns out that for the generic fluniximine, there are three manufacturers, two of which use the same source of raw materials.
The FDA routinely inspects manufacturers and companies that supply the raw materials that go into the finished products. At the time this article was written, there was still a holdup in production while the FDA reviewed those facilities and granted approval for continued production.
While there are no promises, the industry is hoping for a quick recovery and FDA approval sometime in 2017. In the meantime, a small amount of generic fluniximine was expected to become available through AgriLabs in November or December 2016, since that company’s raw material source differed from that of the other two manufacturers.
Merck Animal Health, the company that makes the original brand product Banamine, is having no shortages, and all of its flunixin meglumine products are currently available due to different raw material sources.
Craig Barnett, Merck Animal Health director of equine veterinary technical services, remarked that “Banamine (flunixin meglumine) is available, and there is no connection between our product and the current situation with the generics. Merck Animal Health is taking measures to increase the production of its product to help better meet the needs of the industry.”
