The antibiotic Josacine will disappear from pharmacies

Used against various infectious diseases, the antibiotic Josacine will soon leave the shelves of pharmacies, because its only manufacturer stops production, announced Monday February 27 the health authorities, in a context already marked by the shortage of multiple treatments.

Astellas laboratory “has decided to stop the marketing of all presentations of the specialty Josacine”said in a press release the National Medicines Safety Agency (ANSM).

Josacine is the trade name of josamycin, an antibiotic, which is used against various infectious diseases affecting the lungs, throat, sinuses… Gold “no other specialty based on josamycin is available in France”warns the ANSM, while the last stocks should run out in March.

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Quickly depleted stocks

This judgment is the result of a choice by the manufacturer, which motivated it by a “industrial decision”, without further details. The safety and effectiveness of the drug are not in question. The group had planned a plan to allow the presence for several more years of the Josacine in the stalls. But, in the current context of antibiotic shortages, stocks have emptied much more than expected, says one on the ANSM website.

Physicians and pharmacists can, however, turn to recent recommendations from the main infectiology societies, which have assessed how best to replace Josacine with treatments from the same family.

This medicine is, moreover, linked in people’s minds to the “poisoned Josacine” affair, linked to the death of a child, which was attributed to the poisoning with cyanide of a bottle of this antibiotic. But the safety of the treatment itself has never been disputed.

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The World with AFP

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