How to Help Your Patients Find Pegasys In Stock: A Provider's Guide

For providers managing patients on Pegasys (Peginterferon Alfa-2a), the ongoing 2026 shortage has created an additional burden: helping patients navigate a complex and fragmented supply chain. Your practice can play a pivotal role in reducing dose interruptions — and this guide gives you the specific tools, contacts, and strategies to do it effectively.

Why Providers Are Central to Shortage Navigation

Patients with chronic conditions depend heavily on their care team during a drug shortage. Most patients don't know which specialty distributors carry Pegasys, which pharmacies have allocation relationships, or when to escalate to the manufacturer. Your practice can serve as the coordination hub — dramatically improving the likelihood that patients don't miss doses.

Step 1: Use medfinder for Providers to Check Real-Time Stock

medfinder for Providers (medfinder.com/providers) allows your team to search pharmacy stock by medication, dose, and patient location. Rather than having patients call around on their own, your staff can quickly identify which pharmacies in a patient's area currently have Pegasys, then direct patients accordingly. This is particularly valuable for patients who are elderly, have limited mobility, or live in areas with few specialty pharmacy options.

Step 2: Establish Relationships with Local Specialty Pharmacies

Independent specialty pharmacies often maintain different distributor relationships than large chains. During shortages, they are frequently the last to run out and the first to receive new allocations. Consider identifying 2–3 independent specialty pharmacies in your area that have demonstrated ability to source difficult injectables, and building a preferred-pharmacy list for your Pegasys patients.

Key questions to ask when vetting specialty pharmacies:

• Do you have an allocation relationship with Summit SD for Pegasys?
• What is your current Pegasys stock level and when did you last receive an order?
• Can you accommodate prior authorization processing and specialty billing for our patients?

Step 3: Contact Summit SD and pharma& Directly

Summit SD is the primary specialty distributor for Pegasys in the United States. For practices managing multiple Pegasys patients, establishing a direct relationship with Summit SD can provide early visibility into allocation schedules and allow your practice to request direct allocation.

pharma& GmbH, the manufacturer, operates a healthcare provider support line at

• Phone: 855-443-7028

They can provide the most current supply information, help identify pharmacies with stock in your area, and connect patients with patient assistance programs if cost is a barrier.

Step 4: Consider Buy-and-Bill Administration in Your Practice

For practices — especially oncology and hematology — that have the infrastructure, the buy-and-bill model allows you to purchase Pegasys directly from Summit SD or pharma& and administer it as an in-office procedure. This approach:

• Bypasses retail pharmacy channels entirely, which often have lower allocation priority
• Allows the medication to be billed under the medical benefit (not pharmacy benefit), which may result in lower out-of-pocket costs for patients
• Gives your practice direct control over supply continuity for the most vulnerable patients

Step 5: Proactively Identify Patients at Risk of Missing Doses

Run a report on your practice management system to identify all active Pegasys patients and their next anticipated refill date. Patients who refill at chain pharmacies or who have not been proactively counseled about the shortage are at highest risk of a dose interruption. Prioritize outreach to:

• MPN patients with well-controlled disease that could deteriorate with interruption
• Hepatitis B patients where treatment interruption could trigger viral rebound
• Patients who rely solely on chain pharmacies and are unaware of specialty pharmacy alternatives

Step 6: Streamline Prior Authorizations in Advance

For patients transitioning to BESREMi or a DAA, prior authorization is almost always required. Getting PA submitted and approved before the patient runs out of Pegasys prevents an unnecessary gap. Work with your PA team to:

• Submit BESREMi PA requests early, documenting medical necessity and citing the Pegasys shortage
• Include NCCN guideline citations and published shortage guidance (Annals of Hematology, 2025) in appeal letters if denied
• Prepare documentation of failed or unavailable Pegasys supply to support step therapy exceptions

Patient Communication Talking Points

When counseling patients about the shortage, consider including these key messages:

• The shortage is real and FDA-confirmed, but supply exists — it's just harder to find
• Start the refill search 2–3 weeks early, not the day before their dose is due
• If their usual pharmacy is out, call your office — we have a list of pharmacies that may have stock
• We're exploring alternatives that may protect your treatment goals even if Pegasys is temporarily unavailable