冠狀病毒如何影響美國(guó)的藥品供應(yīng)

冠狀病毒如何影響美國(guó)的藥品供應(yīng)

The coronavirus outbreak is causing businesses, health officials and patients to worry about potential shortages of prescription drugs.

冠狀病毒的爆發(fā)導(dǎo)致企業(yè)、衛(wèi)生官員和患者擔(dān)心處方藥可能出現(xiàn)短缺。

That's because the vast majority of active ingredients in medicines dispensed in the U.S. are made in factories overseas, many in China.

這是因?yàn)樵诿绹?guó)銷售的藥品中絕大多數(shù)的主要成分是在海外工廠生產(chǎn)的，其中很多是在中國(guó)。

On March 3. we emailed facilities registered with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to ask what products they manufacture, how the outbreak was affecting their work and how they were coping.

3月3日，我們給在美國(guó)食品和藥物管理局注冊(cè)的機(jī)構(gòu)發(fā)了郵件，詢問他們生產(chǎn)什么產(chǎn)品，疫情如何影響他們的工作，以及他們?nèi)绾螒?yīng)對(duì)。

The facilities make a wide range of pharmaceuticals and some also make other health-related products, including nasal strips and agricultural insecticides.

這些工廠生產(chǎn)多種藥品，有些還生產(chǎn)其他與健康相關(guān)的產(chǎn)品，包括鼻貼和農(nóng)業(yè)殺蟲劑。

So far, the serious supply disruptions many have feared haven't come to pass. Many facilities are back online after production interruptions related to the coronavirus response.

到目前為止，許多人擔(dān)心的嚴(yán)重供應(yīng)中斷還沒有發(fā)生。在由于冠狀病毒反應(yīng)而導(dǎo)致生產(chǎn)中斷后，許多工廠恢復(fù)了生產(chǎn)。

Still, even facilities that are almost back to normal are anticipating a second wave of setbacks.

不過，即便是那些幾乎恢復(fù)正常的設(shè)施，也面臨著第二波的挫折。

"A lot of our suppliers still are not answering phones because they can't get to work or their site isn't open," says Elut Hsu, president of Morrisville, N.C.-based Asymchem, Inc., which has eight facilities in northeast China that manufacture drugs and drug ingredients. Asymchem is a contract manufacturer whose ingredients go into antibiotics, oncology drugs and antivirals sold by other companies.

總部位于北卡羅來納州莫里斯維爾的Asymchem，Inc.在中國(guó)東北部有八家生產(chǎn)藥品和藥物成分的工廠，該公司總裁艾瑞特•許說：“我們的很多供應(yīng)商仍然不接電話，因?yàn)樗麄儫o法上班，或者他們的網(wǎng)站不開放。”。Asymchem是一家合同制造商，其成分用于其他公司銷售的抗生素、腫瘤藥物和抗病毒藥物。

Some projects had no interruptions, and others were delayed about four weeks, she says. That kind of delay usually isn't enough to prompt a shortage.

她說，有些項(xiàng)目沒有中斷，有些則被推遲了大約四周。這種延遲通常不足以導(dǎo)致短缺。

Many manufacturers are taking extra precautions to avoid the virus. Some people tell NPR they're required to eat meals alone, wear masks to work, and have their temperatures checked once a day or more. They also avoid gatherings like meetings.

許多制造商正在采取額外的預(yù)防措施以避免病毒。一些人告訴美國(guó)國(guó)家公共電臺(tái)(NPR)，他們被要求獨(dú)自吃飯，戴口罩去上班，每天檢查一次體溫或更多。他們也避免像開會(huì)一樣的聚會(huì)。

"At this stage, most of the companies seem to be largely in operation," says Benjamin England, a consultant and attorney. "We're not at least hearing of there being continued delay or restrictions with respect to production. And that's true on the medical device side, too."

“在這個(gè)階段，大多數(shù)公司似乎基本上都在運(yùn)營(yíng)，”顧問和律師本杰明·英格蘭說，他說:“我們至少?zèng)]有聽到有關(guān)生產(chǎn)繼續(xù)推遲或限制的消息。在醫(yī)療設(shè)備方面也是如此。”

Several U.S. drugmakers, including Pfizer and Mylan, have told their investors that the virus could harm their ability to manufacture products or get supplies to do so.

包括輝瑞和邁蘭在內(nèi)的幾家美國(guó)制藥商已經(jīng)告訴他們的投資者，這種病毒可能會(huì)損害它們生產(chǎn)產(chǎn)品或獲得供應(yīng)的能力。

Still, any drug shortages caused by coronavirus manufacturing disruptions probably won't appear immediately or all at once, Fox says.

不過，福克斯說，由冠狀病毒生產(chǎn)中斷造成的任何藥品短缺可能不會(huì)立即或同時(shí)出現(xiàn)。