The quiet end of the relabeller trading as Vantris Bio

the relabeller trading as Vantris Bio has ceased trading after 6 years, ending an operation that at its largest employed a few dozen people and served, on its own account, several thousand patients a month. The closure follows the resolution of the shortage listing on which a substantial share of its volume depended, and was announced to customers by email with 22 days’ notice.

At its peak the operation ran two sterile suites, held a state licence in 6 jurisdictions, and published a catalogue of preparations that ran to several dozen items. Staff were given 22 days’ notice. The Journal has spoken to three former employees, none of whom would be quoted by name while severance discussions continued.

Customer deposits held in a general operating account are the recurring feature of these administrations. It is lawful in most jurisdictions and it means that in a failure the customer is financing the wind-down. Readers who prepay should understand which of those they are doing.

"If your deposit is in their operating account you are an unsecured creditor," said Alastair Renshaw, pharmaceutical supply-chain consultant. "That is a lending decision most customers do not know they are making."

"I had four weeks to move people who had been stable for a year," said Dr Callum Voss, nephrologist and clinical trials investigator. "Two of them are not on anything now."

We are tracking the reappearance of this operation’s certificates in the market and will report any instance we can document.