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The Northern Ireland Department of Health said it was not anticipating any significant disruption to supplies after a pharmaceutical wholesaler went into administration.

Doncaster Pharmaceuticals Group operates from 14 sites across the UK.

In Northern Ireland it trades as Crosspharma from a depot in Newtownabbey.

The administrator said it would be working to "mitigate the impact on the pharmaceutical supply chain".

Philip Dakin, administrator at insolvency firm Kroll, said pharmaceutical distributors and wholesalers formed an "important link between drug manufacturers and independent pharmacies and their end customers".

'It is a complex chain which means we will be working closely with the relevant regulators, the management team and the Group's lenders to mitigate the impact on the pharmaceutical supply chain," Mr Dakin said.

"On appointment our immediate objective will be to conduct an orderly wind down of the trading operations.

'The possibility of some small trade sales of parts of the business, has not been ruled out as we aim to maximise the return for creditors."

A spokesperson for the Department of Health said it was aware of the development and would continue to monitor it.

"No significant disruption to supplies is currently anticipated," he said.