Most US generics made abroad, data shows: 4 notes

Medications are rarely made from start to finish in a single country; raw materials, active ingredients and final products often cross multiple borders before reaching patients in the U.S., The New York Times reported Aug. 23. 

Here are four notes: 

1. According to data shared with the Times by U.S. Pharmacopeia, a nonprofit organization that monitors drug supply, brand-name drugs usually rely on active ingredients from the U.S. (43%) or Europe (37%). Generic drugs, which account for the majority of prescriptions, depend mainly on India (35%) and China (27%) for their active ingredients. India and China focus on lower-cost generics such as statins and antibiotics. The U.S. accounts for only 12% of generic drugs.
2. Tariffs could hit generic drugs the most, the data showed. The medications, including amoxicillin, ciprofloxacin and doxycycline, have thin profit margins, and as a result they are more prone to shortages. For example, 46% of the U.S. supply for liquid amoxicillin originates from Jordan, for which China, India, Austria and Canada produce its active ingredients.
3. Blockbuster drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy, made by Novo Nordisk, have more consolidated production, based solely in Denmark. Their active ingredients are manufactured entirely in that country, with final formulation split with the U.S. The drugs, however, could face a 15% tariff under a recent trade agreement between the U.S. and European Union.
4. Medications widely used in hospital settings, including lidocaine injections, remain vulnerable, according to the report. The drug’s production spans 10 countries, with only 31% of finished vials manufactured in the U.S. With more complex production and thin profit margins, supply leaders have expressed concern that tariffs could worsen the drug’s long-running shortages. 

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