Will the outbreak of Covid-19 in China have consequences on the supply of medicines in France? The context has already been marked for several weeks by strong tensions in the supply of pediatric drugs, in particular paracetamol and amoxicillin. “More than 70% of pharmacies report having a shortage of pediatric amoxicillin”underlined a press release from the unions and the National Council of the Order of Pharmacists, Friday, December 23.
“Yes, we are worried about the consequences that the Chinese context could have on the lack of medicines but also on masks and other materials, indicates Philippe Besset, president of the Federation of Pharmaceutical Unions of France, who exercises in Limoux, in the Aude. This adds to the problems on pediatric drugs. We have no visibility for the coming weeks. »
Pierre-Olivier Variot, president of the Union of community pharmacists, also fears that tensions will worsen. Especially since these supply problems have been growing steadily for the past ten years. They concern more and more important drugs, said to be of major therapeutic interest, which do not have suitable alternatives.
Stock-outs on the rise
No less than 3,000 stock-outs or risk of stock-outs were reported in 2022, an increase of 15% compared to the previous year. At the Ministry of Health, it is judged that it “is still too early to accurately assess the risk of tension in the coming weeks given the current uncertainties about the context”, but “At this stage, this risk cannot be ruled out”.
The health crisis linked to Covid-19 and the collateral effects of the war in Ukraine, in particular on the production of glass, cardboard and aluminum, necessary for the packaging of medicines, weigh on the production of the latter. Added to this is the very strong demand for certain health products. Paracetamol, a must in medicine cabinets, pays the price. Since the start of the pandemic, in 2020, its sales have exploded. To the point that production lines are struggling to keep up with the frantic pace of orders. The triple winter epidemic of Covid-19, bronchiolitis and influenza, despite the forecasts of pharmaceutical companies, surprised by its virulence. And supply tensions have built up.
In Lisieux (Calvados), Sanofi’s Doliprane factory is running at full speed. Just like in Agen (Lot-et-Garonne), at its competitor UPSA, manufacturer of Dafalgan and Efferalgan, and number two on the French market with 28.5% of sales of paracetamol on prescription. To alleviate supply tensions, the latter reallocated 500,000 vials of pediatric paracetamol initially intended for export to the national market in mid-December.
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