January 2021
Priftin® (Rifapentine) Not Available through the Wisconsin Tuberculosis (TB) Dispensary for Treatment of Latent Tuberculosis Infection (LTBI)
Background
This bulletin is being sent to these lists: Tribal Health Directors, Local Health Department Nurses, and Local Public Health Officers.
Rifapentine (supplied as Priftin® 150 mg film-coated tablets manufactured by Sanofi) is part of a 3-month regimen with isoniazid (3HP) for treating LTBI and preventing TB disease. Priftin® is the only rifapentine product approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
An ongoing shortage of Priftin®, attributed to increased global demand, has affected the U.S. supplies of Priftin® since late 2019. Additionally, Sanofi paused the release of Priftin® from its production sites in 2020 due to newly-detected nitrosamine impurities.
Until recently, the Wisconsin TB Dispensary Program pharmacy has been able to obtain limited supplies of Priftin® from their distributor. At this time, however, there are no further supplies of Priftin® available.
- The Wisconsin TB Dispensary will not be able to supply Priftin® for new medication orders for treatment of LTBI at this time.
- For those orders already approved and sent to the Dispensary pharmacy, the Wisconsin TB Dispensary is guaranteeing all 12 doses for patients who have started therapy.
Recommendations
The Wisconsin TB Program (WTBP) recommends the following approaches while Priftin® is not available:
- If you have a patient with LTBI who is at high risk for infection (e.g., TB contact or born in a TB high-burden country) or is immune-compromised, consider an alternate regimen in order to start therapy as soon as possible.
- For patients who don’t need to start LTBI therapy immediately and prefer the 3HP regimen, consider waiting for Priftin® supplies to stabilize.
- If you obtain Priftin® from a local pharmacy, assure that they can guarantee all 12 doses for your patient.
- WTBP will send messaging to all local health departments when we have news that the Priftin® supply has been replenished.
Please contact the WTBP with any questions by email, or calling 608-261-6319.
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