Insect Allergy
Shortage of venom immunotherapy products: honey bee, paper wasp and yellow jacket
2 March 2018:
Stallergenes Greer has recently received information affecting supply of all venom immunotherapy products to Australia and New Zealand, including Honey Bee venom, Paper Wasp venom and Yellow Jacket venom. This change in circumstances is due to news about a shutdown of ALK manufacturing facilities in the US.
This has required JHS (supplier of venom immunotherapy to Stallergenes Greer) to reprioritise the supply of venom immunotherapy products to meet additional demands in the US on an ongoing basis. On receiving this news, Stallergenes Greer has made immediate arrangements with JHS to secure stock of all three products directly from the US.
The current stock situation in Australia and New Zealand is as follows:
Honey Bee venom
- In Australia Honey Bee venom is currently out of stock. Hymenoptera Honey Bee venom is expected to be available again in Australia in around mid-April 2018.
- In New Zealand there is sufficient Albey Honey Bee venom stock to meet demand over the next 6 months.
Paper Wasp venom
- in Australia Paper Wasp venom is currently out of stock. Stallergenes Greer will confirm the date of the next available shipment as soon as possible.
- In New Zealand there is sufficient Albey Paper Wasp venom stock to meet demand over the next 3 months.
Yellow Jacket venom
- Yellow Jacket venom is NOT out of stock in either Australia or New Zealand.
- However the remaining Albey Yellow Jacket venom stock is short-dated (expiry May 2018).
- Stallergenes Greer will confirm the date of the next available shipment as soon as possible.
For guidance on how to make decisions about the appropriate care for patients currently receiving venom immunotherapy, and measures to avoid interruptions to therapy in high-risk patients, you may wish to refer to the:
- ASCIA website members section www.allergy.org.au/members/allergen-immunotherapy
- AAAAI/ACAAI Joint Venom Extract Shortage Task Force Report www.annallergy.org/article/S1081-1206(17)30102-3/fulltext
For any further assistance, please contact Stallergenes Greer as follows:
- For orders or status of orders, please contact the Customer Service team on 1800 824 166 or by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
- For medical information enquiries, please contact Dr Martin Rees (APAC Regional Medical Director) by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
- To report adverse events, please contact Stallergenes Greer on 1800 824 166
Stallergenes Greer understands the impact of this shortage on both patients and prescribers, and are committed to ensuring reliable supply of these important products into Australia and New Zealand on an ongoing basis.
Further updates will be sent to ASCIA members as soon as more information is available.
