Uncontaminated blood-pressure medicine will start being distributed to pharmacies on Saturday, and all chemists will be stocked with a replacement for valsartan by Wednesday.
The drug was recalled earlier this month, after the European Medicines Agency raised the alarm when a key ingredient was found to contain an impurity and could pose a cancer risk.
Malta was one of 22 affected countries, with some 27,000 patients getting valsartan through the government’s Pharmacy of Your Choice scheme.
In spite of the ban, local health experts have warned that continuing to take the medication in the short term was less risky than stopping it abruptly.
When the contamination issue was flagged, the local health authorities started looking into procuring supplies of valsartan from alternative sources.
The Health Ministry told Times of Malta that stock of canderstan, a direct replacement of valsartan, started to arrive last week. The authorities received more consignments this week, ensuring enough stock for the continuation of treatment.
On Friday, a spokeswoman said that the authorities had enough stock to distribute to all POYC pharmacies, and the distribution is to take place between Saturday and Wednesday.
Over the past few weeks, patients have been advised to consult with their GPs, who could recommend an alternative drug from the government formulary or one available from chemists for a fee.
The Health Ministry spokeswoman said that about 2,250 patients were dispensed with an alternative medicine to valsartan since the issue arose.
Patients who were not given alternative medicine via POYC most likely continued consuming the valsartan they had or bought an alternative, given that patients had been warned repeatedly not to stop taking their antihypertension medication.
European regulators have said the drug, manufactured in bulk by a Chinese company and sold worldwide, might have contained an impurity linked to cancer since 2012.
The revelation that the problem likely dates back to changes in manufacturing processes at Zhejiang Huahai Pharmaceutical six years ago suggests many patients could have been exposed to cancer risk.
The impurity is known as N-Nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) and it is used to make liquid rocket fuel, softeners and lubricants and could be a by-product of pesticide and rubber tyre manufacturing.
It was identified during routine batch testing of valsartan supplied by Zhejiang Huahai Pharmaceuticals in Linhai resulting from a change in the manufacturing process.