Aspire Pharma tropicamide batches pulled from UK supply after mislabelled shelf life

Aspire Pharma faces a stock withdrawal in the UK after the medicines regulator found that three batches of its Tropicamide 1% eye drops were printed with a later expiry than they should have had. The MHRA published the alert, reference EL(26)A/47, on 5 November 2026. The company's financial exposure has not been disclosed, and the alert gives no figures for units affected.

The batches are E941A, E941B and E941C, supplied as 20 x 0.5ml single-dose containers under licence PL 35533/0198. Each carries a printed date of 30 April 2027. The regulator says the correct date is 31 October 2026, so the real shelf life had already run out by the time the alert appeared. Distribution began on 29 October 2025 for the first batch, 4 February 2026 for the second and 20 February 2026 for the third.

The regulator has put the action in its lowest-risk recall tier, which, as general context, is typically used for defects unlikely to harm patients. Dispensing GP practices and pharmacies are told to stop supplying the batches, quarantine what they hold and send it back through their supplier's approved process. NHS regional teams are asked to relay the notice to community pharmacists and dispensing GPs.

Patients are not being asked to stop treatment. The recall operates at pharmacy and wholesaler level, and anyone holding these batches can keep using them and request a replacement prescription from their prescriber. The MHRA says it has received no reports of adverse incidents tied to the defect. Aspire Pharma has published contact details in the alert for medical information and stock-control queries.