What is the triamcinolone shortage right now?
This update follows PRN's April 2026 triamcinolone article. Six points are new or clearer since then:
- Kenalog has a new owner. Piramal Critical Care's purchase of Kenalog and associated brands from Bristol-Myers Squibb was reported complete on April 1, 2026, and Goodwin, Piramal's counsel, announced the deal a week later. The NDC Directory and DailyMed still show E.R. Squibb & Sons as labeler of record, and no Piramal listing was found.
- The owner has described supply on the record. On Piramal's Oct. 28 Q2 FY27 call, according to an Investing.com transcript, Peter DeYoung, CEO of Global Pharma, said supply from the current contract manufacturer is tight and is expected to stay that way. He gave no timeframe for the new contract manufacturer.
- More labelers are listed than April named. Dr. Reddy's, Alembic, Sagent and NorthStar all appear in the NDC Directory. A listing does not show stock.
- Teva's end dates are on file. DailyMed and the NDC Directory list marketing end dates of Oct. 31, 2026 for the 10 mL and Dec. 31, 2026 for the 1 mL and 5 mL. This corrects PRN's April article rather than reporting a new event, because the dates have been in Teva's label since at least August 2025.
- Triesence is marked resolved. FDA's record for Harrow Eye's ophthalmic product shows Resolved on July 31, 2026. openFDA gives no reason.
- FDA shows no Kenalog listing. Oct. 30 queries of openFDA shortage data returned no Kenalog or generic intra-articular or intramuscular triamcinolone acetonide entry, and FDA's drug shortage list, updated Oct. 29, shows no Kenalog entry either. That does not prove normal supply, and openFDA itself warns that its data are unvalidated.
Visibility by NDC remains limited. Apart from a single distributor listing for Amneal and Teva's listed end dates, this update found no manufacturer or FDA supply status for the generic lines. Treat the statuses in the April article as historical, since its estimated release dates have passed, and re-confirm them before relying on them. For presentation review, start with PRN's Triamcinolone shortage index.
PRN has also seen increased requests for injectable triamcinolone this summer.
Is Kenalog discontinued, or just difficult to source?
No public U.S. source reviewed for this update says Kenalog has been discontinued. Piramal's Oct. 27 results release says Kenalog contributed to Complex Hospital Generics revenue in Q2 FY27 (July to September 2026), with no amount given. On the Oct. 28 call, per the same transcript, Nandini Piramal, the company's chairperson, said the company is advancing the regulatory approvals tied to the new contract manufacturer and expects Kenalog to support the business in the second half.
That is not evidence that a given vial can be obtained. Neither the release nor the call gives a U.S. figure or a unit count, or names a presentation, and Piramal's remarks are global. PRN's reading is that the company is describing tight supply, not a withdrawal. Piramal has given no recovery date.
Canada offers outside context only. MedSask's triamcinolone entry, updated Oct. 30, shows Kenalog-10 short until early January 2027 with possible intermittent availability, and Kenalog-40 short with availability indeterminate. It states no cause, and it does not establish U.S. status.
What is causing it?
No public source reviewed explains why Kenalog supply is tight. Piramal describes tight supply during a move between contract manufacturers, but no speaker on the call said why the current manufacturer's output is tight or that the move is the reason. Neither contract manufacturer is named in the sources reviewed.
What is on record is the process. The new contract manufacturer is moving through engineering batches, validation batches and stability work, then filing. DeYoung said it has met its committed timelines, and he gave no date. The move also predates Piramal's ownership: a January 2026 GuruFocus summary has management describing Kenalog as made by a contract manufacturer for the seller and already moving to a second one.
No source says the sale caused the supply problem. The Ontario Rheumatology Association was already citing a Kenalog shortage in November 2025, before the deal was announced in January 2026, though that note is Canadian and dated.
For generic labelers, no public cause was found from a manufacturer or FDA. Teva has not explained its end dates in any statement found for this update, and Drugs@FDA still shows its application's marketing status as Prescription, so calling this a permanent exit would be inference. openFDA enforcement data from January 2025 through October 2026, last updated Oct. 21, show no relevant recall for Kenalog or the generic 40 mg/mL labelers.
Which products and presentations are affected?
The table below shows only what could be sourced publicly on Oct. 30, 2026. Where a row says no status was found, that means no manufacturer or FDA source gave one. It does not mean the product is available or unavailable.
| Product | NDC | Manufacturer | Status as of Oct. 30, 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kenalog-40, 1 mL, 5 mL, 10 mL | 00003-0293-05, 00003-0293-20, 00003-0293-28 | Piramal owns the brand; labeler of record is E.R. Squibb & Sons | No FDA shortage entry. Piramal described Kenalog supply as tight on Oct. 28, without naming a presentation. No NDC-level status found from the manufacturer or FDA. |
| Kenalog-10, 5 mL | 00003-0494-20 | Piramal owns the brand; labeler of record is E.R. Squibb & Sons | No FDA shortage entry. Piramal described Kenalog supply as tight on Oct. 28, without naming a presentation. No NDC-level status found from the manufacturer or FDA. |
| Kenalog-80, 1 mL, 5 mL | 00003-0315-05, 00003-0315-20 | Piramal owns the brand; labeler of record is E.R. Squibb & Sons | No FDA shortage entry. Piramal described Kenalog supply as tight on Oct. 28, without naming a presentation. No NDC-level status found from the manufacturer or FDA. |
| Triamcinolone 40 mg/mL, 1 mL | 70121-1049-02 | Amneal | A single distributor listing, undated and opened Oct. 30, shows a manufacturer backorder with no expected date. Not a manufacturer statement. |
| Triamcinolone 40 mg/mL, 5 mL and 10 mL | 70121-1168-01, 70121-1169-01 | Amneal | The same single distributor listing shows a manufacturer backorder, with an expected date of Dec. 11, 2026 on the single-vial lines. Not a manufacturer statement. |
| Triamcinolone 40 mg/mL, 1 mL | 00143-9387-25 | Hikma | No manufacturer or FDA supply status found. Confirm with the manufacturer and supplier. |
| Triamcinolone 40 mg/mL, 1 mL, 5 mL, 10 mL | 81298-5781-05, 81298-5785-03, 81298-5783-03 | Long Grove | No manufacturer or FDA supply status found. Confirm with the manufacturer and supplier. |
| Triamcinolone 40 mg/mL, 1 mL, 5 mL, 10 mL | 67457-0621-99, 67457-0622-99, 67457-0623-99 | Viatris (Mylan Institutional) | No manufacturer or FDA supply status found. Confirm with the manufacturer and supplier. |
| Triamcinolone 40 mg/mL, 1 mL, 5 mL, 10 mL | 00703-0241-01, 00703-0243-01, 00703-0245-01 | Teva | Marketing end dates of Dec. 31, 2026 (1 mL, 5 mL) and Oct. 31, 2026 (10 mL) in DailyMed and the NDC Directory. No Teva statement found. |
| Triamcinolone 40 mg/mL, 5 mL, 10 mL | 55150-0384-01, 55150-0385-01 | Eugia | NDC Directory lists both with no marketing end date. PRN could not re-verify the status in its April article. A listing does not prove supply. |
| Triamcinolone 40 mg/mL (1 mL, 5 mL, 10 mL) and 10 mg/mL | 43598-0677-11, 43598-0677-25, 43598-0694-11, 43598-0695-11, 43598-0676-11 | Dr. Reddy's | Listed, with marketing starts in August and October 2025. A listing does not show availability, and no manufacturer or FDA supply status was found. |
| Triamcinolone 40 mg/mL, 1 mL, 5 mL, 10 mL | 25021-0054-01, 25021-0054-05, 25021-0054-10 | Sagent | Listed, with a marketing start of March 1, 2026. A listing does not show availability, and no manufacturer or FDA supply status was found. |
| Triamcinolone 40 mg/mL, 1 mL, 5 mL, 10 mL | 62332-0812-01, 62332-0812-25, 62332-0090-05, 62332-0091-10 | Alembic | Listed, with a marketing start of Oct. 17, 2025. A listing does not show availability, and no manufacturer or FDA supply status was found. |
| Triamcinolone 40 mg/mL, 1 mL, 5 mL, 10 mL | 16714-0130-01, 16714-0130-25, 16714-0140-01, 16714-0150-01 | NorthStar | Listed under Amneal's application, with a marketing start of Nov. 19, 2019. A listing does not show availability, and no manufacturer or FDA supply status was found. |
| Triesence 40 mg/mL (ophthalmic) | 82667-0800-01 | Harrow Eye | FDA status Resolved, July 31, 2026. No reason given. |
| Hexatrione 2% (triamcinolone hexacetonide, a different ester) | 59137-0570-01 | Medexus | FDA status Current, availability Available, Sept. 15, 2026. Temporary import tied to the Aristospan shortage, not to triamcinolone acetonide. FDA has not approved it in the U.S. |
Adjacent category context. Methylprednisolone acetate, another injectable corticosteroid, is also mixed by NDC in FDA data updated Oct. 6 to 21. Some Pfizer, Amneal and Sagent presentations are listed Available, while others from those companies, Eugia and Par are Limited or Unavailable. Manufacturer-reported reasons vary, including demand increase, shortage of an active ingredient and manufacturing delay, and the category has been on FDA's list since December 2021. No source links it to Kenalog. PRN's reading is that buyers should not assume open supply there, and whether any product is an appropriate option is a decision for clinical teams.
How is this affecting healthcare buyers and facilities?
- Open-ended planning on the brand. Piramal gave no date, and stability and filing steps still follow validation. PRN's inference, not a company statement, is that buyers should not build plans around a near-term Kenalog recovery. Piramal also has not said supply is stopping.
- A shortage search that can understate the problem. A team checking FDA's data alone will see no Kenalog or generic 40 mg/mL entry, even while a supplier reports a backorder on a specific NDC.
- Records that lag the ownership change. The brand owner changed, but the labeler of record did not, and no NDC transition plan was found. Contract, vendor and ordering records may need a second look.
- More names, not necessarily more supply. Additional labelers widen the list buyers have to check, but the sources reviewed do not show what any of them can ship.
What should facilities do when supply is tight?
- Confirm status by NDC and vial size. Ask the manufacturer and supplier directly, and record the date and source of each answer. A brand-name search or an FDA search alone is not enough.
- Update item crosswalks. Add the Dr. Reddy's, Alembic, Sagent and NorthStar NDCs for pharmacy review, and flag Teva NDCs against their listed end dates.
- Check Kenalog contract and ordering records. Note the owner and the labeler of record separately, and ask your supplier about any change rather than assuming one.
- Keep route and concentration separate. NDC Directory routes differ: Kenalog-10 is intra-articular and intralesional, Kenalog-40 and Kenalog-80 are intra-articular and intramuscular, and Triesence is ophthalmic. MedSask, a Canadian source, notes that Triesence is indicated only for intravitreal use. Substitution and therapeutic decisions belong to clinical teams and P&T.
- Treat every date as an estimate. Retire older release dates from planning documents and record who gave any new date.
- Escalate early. If a procedure area depends on one presentation, bring pharmacy and supply chain together before the last vials are in use.
Where can buyers monitor supply information through PRN?
Start with PRN's Triamcinolone shortage index for presentation-level review, then open the product page for the NDC under review, such as Kenalog-40 5 mL. The Drug Shortage News hub carries market updates, including the April 2026 article, and the drug shortage index and High-Demand Products cover adjacent categories. The FAQ and Who We Are pages explain how PRN works with facilities.
Need help sourcing triamcinolone by NDC or vial size? Use Request a Custom Quote for shortage-related sourcing support, or start customer onboarding if your facility needs a purchasing account.
Important note: This article is intended for general informational and procurement reference only. It is not medical, legal, or regulatory advice. Facilities should confirm current shortage status, labeling, route, concentration, interchangeability, and purchasing decisions through current manufacturer, distributor, FDA, pharmacy, and institutional review channels before acting.