FOR a mother, getting a packet of low-priced adrenocorticotropin (ACTH) that eases her son’s infantile spasm syndrome is like mission impossible, as only one pharmaceutical factory in China still produces the medication due to the profit being next to nothing.

The woman’s son, a 7-month-old infant, is staying at Shenzhen Children’s Hospital, awaiting treatment. The boy was diagnosed with infantile spasms, a severe type of epilepsy, in May, Shenzhen TV reported.

The mother, surnamed Huang, said doctors with the children’s hospital told the family the best treatment for her boy was an injection of ACTH. However, it is extremely difficult to get the medication in Shenzhen. Huang said she is not the only person that is waiting for the medication. Parents of another child at the hospital have also been looking for the medicine for a long time.

ACTH is as cheap as only 7.8 yuan (US$1.16) per packet. Huang said a child with infantile spasms in a WeChat group said that some scalper was selling the medicine for 4,000 yuan per packet and would only sell to acquaintances.

According to the report, the most effective and recognized treatment for infantile spasms at the moment is to use glucocorticoid together with anti-epilpsy medication, but the medicines are hard to find.

The TV program reporters did not find any ACTH after visiting multiple pharmacies. It was reported that only one factory in Shanghai still produces ACTH, but the factory could not be reached.

An insider of the drug purchasing industry said that the profit from producing ACTH is extremely low, at only 2 percent. Also, since the medication does not treat common diseases, most factories won’t produce it, and distributors and hospitals won’t stock up on it.

Another kind of medicine, a common traditional Chinese medical liquid, has gone off the local market. Substitutes at higher prices have replaced it.

The insider said that many pharmaceutical factories adjust their production based on the profit. (Zhang Qian)