Protamine Sulfate Injection

Protamine sulfate is a drug that reverses the anticoagulant effects of liver compounds such as heparin.

Protamine is extracted from the sperm 1 of salmon 2 and other species of fish, and then made into a protamine sulfate injection which is a necessary drug for people recovering from heart surgery. Recently however, many hospitals have been running out of it and some have even had to cancel surgical 3 operations.

Yajie has the detail.

People who are suffering from heart disease are yearning 4 for surgical treatments, but some hospitals have had to postpone 5 them because they are running out of "protamine sulfate injections", a treatment that is often necessary after surgeries because it reduces bleeding.

Muo Xuming, the deputy director of the Nanjing Children's Hospital, says their hospital is at risk of giving up heart surgery soon.

"Generally we have six to eight surgeries per day, which is more than a hundred in a month. We are trying very hard to buy protamine sulfate injections through various channels, and our stocks can only be sustained for one month at most."

Protamine sulfate is extracted from the sperm of salmon and other species of fish, and right now, there is no alternative drug.

Actually several hospitals have been short of this medicine for months. Take Nanjing for example, the Nanjing children's hospital has had a shortage since March; the Gulou hospital has stocks for half a month, and the Nanjing First hospital can only sustain themselves for one week. The secretary to the chairman of the Nanjing Medical Corporation says they are also facing the same problem.

"All the hospitals are asking for this drug, but we don't have it either, because the pharmaceutical 6 company doesn't deliver it to us. The medicine producer has reduced their output due to the lack of raw materials."

According to the State Food and Drug Administration, there used to be six Pharmaceutical companies producing this drug. But right now, the Shanghai No. 1 Biochemical & Pharmaceutical Corporation is the only domestic producer. Apart from the shortage of raw materials, Hu Songhao, a pharmacist from Xin Hua Hospital, says the low prices are the main cause.

"It seems the price has never changed, and it's very cheap, 12.2 yuan for each dose."

Industry insiders say the price of this drug has not been changed for 20 years, so there is no profit inducement for producers. This makes it easy to understand why pharmaceutical corporations have stopped producing it.

But the problem is, as special commodities, drugs, are used to save people's lives. Although this reduction is in line with the market practices, the production halt is pushing the patients into a dangerous position.

Actually many cheap but effective drugs have vanished in recent years. They have been changed by name, packaging and sometimes dosages, and then sold at a much higher price. Therefore cheap medicine production should be financed by the government.

But the good news is that the Shanghai pharmaceutical company says it has brought forward its production schedule and a batch 7 of protamine sulfate injection will be on the domestic market later this month.