Ferring Pharmaceuticals' recent decision to suspend global shipments of Menopur, an infertility treatment, is likely to bring a shortage of the drug in Korea, officials said.

The news comes after Business Insider reported that Elizabeth Garner, Ferring's chief science officer, reportedly sent out an internal memo to healthcare providers last Wednesday informing them of the supply halt of Menopur.

According to Business Insider, the memo read that all shipments of Menopur have been suspended due to changes made in the manufacturing process of Menopur drug substance by a third-party supplier.

A staff member at Ferring Pharmaceutical Korea confirmed that shipments of Menopur are suspended worldwide.

"Regarding the temporary suspension of the global supply for Menopur, the Korean branch also received the memo from headquarters," a Ferring Pharmaceutical Korea official told Korea Biomedical Review. "The supply of Menopur has been stopped from Oct. 20, not only in Korea but also in all branches worldwide."

The official stressed that the supply halt is related to the ingredient of Menupor.

"Ferring doesn't make the raw material for Menupor as another company in Argentina produces it," the official said. "There was a change in the company, and as Ferring understands, the change has nothing to do with the safety or efficacy of the drug."

The official stressed the company has also reported the halt in supply to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.

However, the official did not provide a clear date on when the drug's supply will resume or if it had enough stockpile to prevent a drug shortage.

"Depending on the investigation conducted by the head office, we will decide on the schedule to resume supply," the official said. "While we looked into the remaining supply of Menopur currently available in Korea, we cannot say for sure we have enough to get through the supply halt."

Ferring is currently selling Menopur 75IU and Menopur Multidose 600IU in Korea.