Member Portal
Portal Members
Portal Membres

Drug Discontinuation Alert: Hypurin Regular Pork Insulin

French version of page

March 18, 2025

Notice of animal-sourced insulin discontinuation and management strategies

Wockhardt UK, the only current, global supplier of animal-sourced insulin has informed Health Canada that it will no longer supply porcine insulin products (Hypurin Regular Pork Insulin and Hypurin NPH) for the Canadian market.  Approximately 60 to 100 people living with diabetes rely on animal-sourced insulin and will need to transition to alternate human insulin and insulin analogues.

Health Canada is working with the importer to monitor the remaining supply and is exploring ways to extend the availability of animal-sourced insulin by importing a UK-authorized supply that expires May 2026. No additional inventory of these drugs will be available after this inventory has been depleted.

Management strategies: 

In anticipation of discontinuation of the product for the Canadian market, endocrinologists should consider the following:

  • Do not initiate new patients on this product
  • Do not order large quantities of Hypurin insulin.
  • Meet with patients to discuss alternative diabetes medication. Other forms of insulin are available. Other anti-diabetic agents (e.g., GLP-1 agonists, oral anti-diabetic agents) may also be appropriate.
  • Share these messages with affected patients:
  1. Do not stop insulin suddenly, since this can be dangerous.
  2. Animal-derived insulins have not been available in other countries (such as the US and Australia) since the early 2000s.
  3. Recent studies have shown no harm in switching patients from animal-derived insulin to synthetic forms.4
  4. Additional patient resources are available from Health Canada or Diabetes Canada.

READ THE COMPLETE GUIDANCE : ENGLISH (PDF) | FRENCH (PDF)

CSEM will continue its collaboration with Health Canada and provide any new information as it becomes available. Advocating for access to medications for Canadian patients is a key priority for CSEM.

These recommendations are intended as guidance for health-care professionals to select alternatives and strategies for the discontinuation of a product and are not meant to replace clinical assessment and judgment. The clinical and operational implications may vary by patient or by facility.

4.  Garber, A. J., et al. “Impact of transfer from animal-source insulins to biosynthetic human insulin (rDNA E coli) in patients with diabetes mellitus.” Clinical therapeutics 13.5 (1991): 627-636. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1799920/.