Abraxane National Shortage

The shortage of Abraxane was due to an issue with the sole-source supplier that Bristol Meyers Squibb obtains it from. There was a quality control issue that was noticed by BMS quality control and had to stop its distribution in the interest of protecting patients. The halt in production did not effect the distribution of Gemzar. The QC issue with the vendor has been resolved and I read accounts from patients on Gemzar+Abraxane that they were receiving treatment with both products as early as November 3rd. 

In the business world is what is known as risk management. One would think that with a critical need for a drug like Abraxane, BMS would have had some type of risk management in place. When it is known there is a sole-source supplier, usually those party to creating and signing a contract would specify the vendor has to have a contingency plan in place. That could be sub-contracting with another company or have a second manufacturing site. In this way, unforeseen circumstances like a natural disaster, fire, etc would have minimal interruption while the alternate location covered the shortag. This does not seem to be the issue here. Makes one wonder if BMS and other companies are now reviewing the risk management/contingency plans to avoid situations like this in the future.