Desonide

Drug ingredient

CAS 638-94-8

This chemical is an active pharmaceutical ingredient used in FDA-regulated drugs.

US productionNot reported

Import value, 2024$154M

Top sourceItaly 60%

This chemical is not on EPA’s Toxic Substances Control Act inventory, the list behind EPA’s production survey.

Why supply is unknown

Production is reported production, not a complete census of factories. Import value and source-country shares describe a shared customs category, not a separate chemical measurement.

Where It Comes From

Customs basis: HS 293729 · basket

These shares come from HS customs code 293729, which covers 57 tracked chemicals in total. They estimate the category's origin mix, not this chemical specifically.

Source Countries

Country of origin for US imports, from Census customs data (2024).

IT 60%ItalyES 14%SpainCN 11%ChinaDE 6%GermanyAT 2%Austria

Netherlands
Australia
Malaysia
Portugal
United Kingdom
Japan
Malta
Canada
Israel
Singapore
New Zealand
Poland
Ukraine
Belgium
Sweden

25 FDA-registered drug labelers

Aarti Pharmalabs Limited

Actavis Pharma, Inc.

Advanced Rx of Tennessee, LLC

Alembic Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Alembic Pharmaceuticals Limited

Bryant Ranch Prepack

Cintex Services, LLC

Cosette Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Encore Dermatology Inc

Encube Ethicals, Inc.

Farmabios S.p.A.

Hubei Gedian Humanwell Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.

MEDISCA Inc.

NEWCHEM SPA

NORTHSTAR RX LLC

Padagis Israel Pharmaceuticals Ltd

Professional Compounding Centers of America dba PCCA

Proficient Rx LP

Sicor S.r.l.

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, Inc.

Symbiotec Pharmalab Limited

SYMBIOTICA SPECIALITY INGREDIENTS SDN.BHD

Taro Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc.

Viona Pharmaceuticals Inc

Zydus Lifesciences Limited

Why It Matters

Sectors

Health

Downstream Uses

Appears in 3 drug and cosmetic product listings (FDA).

•Desonide
•Desonide Ointment, 0.05%
•Tridesilon Cream

FDA Shortage Status

Whether any manufacturer currently reports this drug as in shortage on the FDA Drug Shortages database. "Active Shortage" means at least one presentation has status "current."

No Shortage

Shortage History

Rows group FDA shortage filings by drug product. Each manufacturer makes its own FDA shortage filing, so one product can carry several reports at once: Available, Limited Availability, Unavailable or to be discontinued.

to be discontinued
Desonide Cream
Shortage listed since May 28, 2025
to be discontinued
Desonide Lotion
Shortage listed since September 18, 2025

See all current drug shortages

Chemical Identity

CAS638-94-8

PubChem CID5311066

DTXSIDDTXSID7046756

FormulaC24H32O6

Mol. Weight416.5 g/mol

SMILESCC1(OC2CC3C4CCC5=CC(=O)C=CC5(C4C(CC3(C2(O1)C(=O)CO)C)O)C)C

Data Sources

PubChem · compound 5311066Retrieved 2026-04-07
FDA National Drug Code directoryRetrieved 2026-04-25
FDA Drug ShortagesRetrieved 2026-10-04
US Census international tradeReporting year: 2024 · Retrieved 2026-10-04

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Brief citations

Desonide (CAS 638-94-8) https://chemicalindependence.com/chemical/638-94-8/ PubChem: 5311066. Retrieved 2026-04-07. https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/5311066 FDA National Drug Code directory: CAS 638-94-8. Retrieved 2026-04-25. https://open.fda.gov/data/ndc/ FDA Drug Shortages: CAS 638-94-8. Retrieved 2026-10-04. https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/drugshortages/ US Census international trade: HS 293729 for CAS 638-94-8. Reporting year: 2024. https://usatrade.census.gov/