ONCOLOGY
New challenges for
aseptic drug preparation
Notwithstanding the need for contingency planning, the use of automation seems to be the natural next
step forward for a safer and more efficient compounding of hazardous medicines
Paul Sessink PhD
Exposure Control
Sweden AB
Cancer Research UK states that between 2014
and 2016, 363,484 new cases of cancer were
reported and, with year-on-year increases,
these drugs will only become more commonly
used.
Furthermore, in 2018, a National Health
Service (NHS) commissioned report recorded an
increase in demand for aseptically prepared
products of around 5% per year. 1
Demand is likely to grow further with
increased usage of advanced therapy medicinal
products (ATMPs), growth in clinical trials,
and potentially the necessity to address the
sizeable unmet need for central intravenous
additive services and monoclonal antibodies.
To compound the issue, demand for aseptic
medicines is predicted to continue to increase
in line with global drug expenditure, and in
particular, injectable medicine, for which sales
13
HHE 2019 | hospitalhealthcare.com
are growing at 7.3% compound annual growth
rate (CAGR). 2
Aseptic compounding: The current state
of affairs
Currently, the NHS relies on commercial suppliers
for at least a third of aseptic compounding needs
with 180 known NHS aseptic facilities in England
(excluding radiopharmacies) and 17 sites that
completely outsource production. The 2018 report
suggests that the reason for this reliance on
commercial suppliers is that ‘Trusts who have
chosen to outsource did so for cost efficiency,
investment, or capacity reasons.’ 3
Apart from demand, the NHS is contending
with several other “compounding” issues. The
first is that aseptic preparation is labour intensive
and many facilities do not have the numbers of
staff required to keep up with demand.