The 2025 USP Drug Shortages Report has been released, and it highlights a troubling trend: discontinuations of essential, life-saving medicines continue to rise.
In 2025, drug product discontinuations increased by 60%, reaching the highest annual total in 5 years. Drug shortages are often driven by single points of failure; medicines that are manufactured at only one facility or place in the world. When products are discontinued, the market becomes even more concentrated, leaving patients with fewer treatment options and fewer backup sources when disruptions occur.