U.S. drugmaker Genexa to send children's pain and fever medication to Canada

Province procures children’s medication Alberta has procured 5 million bottles of children’s acetaminophen and ibuprofen. Saif Kaisar has the details.

Health Canada has provided U.S. drugmaker Genexa a temporary allowance to bring "a limited amount" of its children's pain and fever drugs into Canada, the company has announced.

"Genexa is proud to support Canadian families and kids. As the need for access to children's medication increased in Canada, we were happy to work with Health Canada to be able to provide our Kids' Pain and Fever medication to help mitigate current shortages," said David Johnson, Genexa's CEO and co-founder, in a news release on Thursday.

Genexa's children's pain and fever medication contains 160 milligrams of acetaminophen and will be available at a wide variety of retailers across Canada, including Walmart, London Drugs, Jean Coutu, Rexall, Loblaws and more.

Health Canada began accepting foreign imports of children's pain and fever drugs last fall as rising cases of COVID-19, influenza and RSV among children contributed to a nationwide shortage of children's Tylenol and other similar drugs.

As of Feb. 7, Health Canada has imported over 2.4 million units of children's pain and fever medication for hospitals and pharmacies.

"We are committed to assisting our neighbours to the north and are continuing to work closely with Health Canada to gain long term approval as well as to introduce other formulations and products in Canada," Johnson said.