Cream batches stop now while tablet stock runs out around mid-2027
Premarin vaginal cream and all three strengths of Premarin oral tablets will leave the Canadian market, ending domestic supply of a conjugated estrogen therapy prescribed for menopause symptoms.
Pfizer Canada confirmed to Reuters on Thursday that it will stop selling the products following an internal review, and that no further batches of the cream will be supplied.
The cream has been in shortage in Canada since June.
Existing inventories of Premarin tablets in 0.3 mg, 0.625 mg and 1.25 mg strengths are expected to last until about mid-2027, the company told the outlet, although stocks could run out sooner if demand increases.
Pfizer said the decision was not related to any new safety, efficacy or quality concerns, and that other treatment options were available in Canada.
Premarin Intravenous, used in hospitals to treat abnormal uterine bleeding caused by hormonal imbalance, is not affected.
Premarin cream and tablets are sold in the US, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and Singapore, according to Reuters.
Health Canada’s drug shortage database lists an active shortage of Premarin vaginal cream, 0.625 mg in a 30 g tube, filed by Pfizer Canada ULC on June 22 and last updated on August 18.
The reported reason is disruption of the manufacture of the drug.
The product, drug identification number 02043440, has drawn repeated shortage reports since 2017.
The most recent closed report ran from November 10, 2025 to February 20, 2026, and a discontinuation report covering the 14 g tube was filed on October 1, 2018.
Health Canada said earlier in November 2026 that certain strengths of estradiol transdermal patches made by Bayer and Sandoz were in short supply, with intermittent shortages expected to continue until early 2027, Reuters reported.
Demand for hormone replacement therapy has been rising, particularly in the United States, where prescriptions increased after the US Food and Drug Administration removed long-standing safety warnings from the treatments in November 2025.
Pfizer suspended sales of Premarin vaginal cream in India in July, citing “certain supply challenges,” Trupti Wagh, Pfizer’s senior director of media relations for Asia-Pacific, told Reuters at the time.
The company said then that it was exploring options to resume supplies.
Pfizer said its latest decision applied only to Canada and declined to comment on supply situations in other markets, according to Reuters.
