The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) has received information that certain brands of eye drops are short in supply in the market. The DRAP’s committee has conducted a quick survey of the market and found certain alternative brands available in the market. The main reason behind their short supply is the change of ownership globally from Allergan to AbbVie.
In this regard, Physicians are advised to consider prescribing the available alternative brands to their patients in light of the shortage. Patients should be informed about this during their consultations. Similarly, pharmacists should also communicate the availability of alternative brands to patients or caregivers.
Briefly, the availability status of eye drops reported short along with their alternative brands is presented in the table below:
| Sr. No. | Name of Drug Products | Manufacturer/ importer | Status | Reason / Stock position | Alternate brand available |
| 1 | Combigan Eye drops (Brimonidine and Timolol) | M/s Barrett Hodgson | Short supply | Global merger/ acquisition (Change of ownership from Allergan to AbbVie) | Brytim Eye Drops (Remington) Imosol eye Drops (Schazoo) |
| 2 | Lumigan Eye drops (Bimatoprost) | M/s Barrett Hodgson | Short supply | Global merger/ acquisition (Change of ownership from Allergan to AbbVie) | Allure Eye drops (Sante) |
| 3 | Alphagan Eye drops (Brimonidine tartrate) | M/s Barrett Hodgson | Short supply | Global merger/ acquisition (Change of ownership from Allergan to AbbVie) | Brimodine Eye drops (Sante) Brimod eye drops (Remington) |
| 4 | Cosopt eye drops (Dorzolamide and Timolol) | M/s OBS Pakistan | Short Supply | Stock of 30,000 packs is in transit. | Co-Dorzol eye drops (Sante) Co-Dorz eye drops (Ethical) |