(Bloomberg) -- Demand for drugs given to patients on ventilators is outstripping supply, according to Vizient Inc., a pharmaceutical-purchasing group that works with more than half of U.S. hospitals and health systems.

Hospital orders for sedatives, analgesics and neuromuscular blockers increased 58% overall in March compared with January, Vizient said. Those medicines are used to prevent movement, manage pain and soothe patients who can’t breathe without the assistance of a machine.

Covid-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, has left the U.S. government and care providers racing to increase the number of ventilators available to treat patients with severe respiratory disease. A forecast surge in such critically ill patients is expected to stretch hospitals beyond their current intensive-care capacity within weeks.

The drive to ramp up the number of ventilators has also increased demand for the drugs, but distributors have struggled to provide hospitals with all the supplies they seek, according to Vizient.

Medical workers sedate and paralyze Covid-19 patients to minimize discomfort and help facilitate a process known as intubation, where a thin tube is put through the mouth to help bring oxygen to the lungs.

Vizient identified 12 pharmaceuticals used in intubation and caring for patients on ventilators that could become harder to get as greater numbers of Covid-19 patients require machines to help their breathing.

“These drugs maximize the work the ventilator can do, so the patient can heal and recover,” said Dan Kistner, senior vice president of pharmacy solutions at Vizient. “If we don’t focus on the drugs that are critical to making these ventilators go, then having the ventilators doesn’t matter.”

“If you have a car, but no gas, you can’t get anywhere,” he said.

Falling Short

Orders for common sedatives including propofol, dexmedetomidine, etomidate and ketamine increased 51% between March 1 and March 24, compared with the period of Jan. 2 to Jan. 25, according to Vizient. The so-called fill rate dropped to 65% from 95%. That means as demand increased, hospitals have been able to buy only about two-thirds of the sedatives they initially ordered.

At the same time, demand for analgesics, including painkillers such as morphine, fentanyl and hydromorphone, surged 67% in March compared with January, as fill rates decreased to 73% from 95%. Neuromuscular blockers, which relax the body to prevent movement, saw a 39% increase in demand, but fill rates declined to 70% from 88%.

Some sedatives and painkillers, including certain ketamine, lorazepam, morphine, hydromorphone and fentanyl products, are already in shortage as defined by the Food and Drug Administration.

“Our public drug shortages list is up-to-date,” said FDA spokesman Jeremy Kahn. “We are updating these lists regularly and communicating in real-time so that patients and health-care providers have the most current information.”

The recent surge in demand could exacerbate those shortfalls. Kistner, who is a pharmacist by training, said that for products not yet facing shortages, “the data show that orders placed are not being completely filled, and it is spiraling toward a major shortage of the medications necessary for patients who require a ventilator.”

The drugs needed for ventilator patients are also commonly used in other surgeries, but across the country many elective procedures have been canceled or postponed as health systems grapple with the burden of Covid-19.

Boosting Output

Kistner said Vizient’s top executives have had conversations with the White House, the FDA and drugmakers over the past weekend to suggest steps to avoid shortages by ramping up production and potentially approving new facilities to make the critical medicines. He said the group recommended that FDA work with other agencies, distributors and hospitals to develop ways to better match supply with demand as Covid-19 spreads.

Hospitals have been stockpiling other pharmaceuticals, including a malaria drug called hydroxychloroquine touted by President Donald Trump and some medical researchers as a potential coronavirus treatment. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. and Mylan NV have said they plan to boost production of hydroxychloroquine pills in response.

Kistner said many sedatives, analgesics and neurogenerative blockers can be more difficult to manufacture on tight time lines, given that they aren’t simple pills but sterile injectables, which have a longer, more involved production process.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.