The Medicines Agency announces a plan to limit supply tensions on essential medicines this winter. Reinforced monitoring will concern four types of medications in particular.
We paid little attention to it until now but the stock-outs of medicines starting to become real issue public health in France. So much so that theMedicines Agency (ANSM) announces the deployment of a “winter plan 2023-2024” For anticipate and limit tensions on some major drugs to deal with winter illnesses. This plan will be based on epidemiological data from Public Health France (medical consultations, visits to the emergency room, hospitalizations for certain pathologies (Covid-19, flu, bronchiolitis, etc.)); ANSM data on laboratory stocks and supplies, wholesalers-distributors and pharmacies ; field data (difficulties encountered by professionals health and patients). “Reinforced” monitoring will concern the four types of medications most used in winter to deal in particular with epidemics of flu, bronchitis or even Covid-19:
- THE antibiotics based amoxicillin and amoxicillin-clavulanic acid
- Fever medications (paracetamol)
- THE corticosteroids administered orally (prednisone, prednisolone)
- Medications against asthma (corticosteroids and bronchodilators administered by inhalation (fluticasone, salbutamol).
If these drugs were to be in short supply, the Medicines Agency could decide to implement measures such as “of the imports of medicines originally intended for other marketsquotas, adjustments to the distribution circuit or the mobilization of masterful preparations“.
Laboratories are responsible for the availability of medicines
Risks of stock shortages or proven shortages are declared to the ANSM by pharmaceutical laboratories, which are responsible for the availability of the medicines they market in France. A decree published in September 2021 established theobligation for pharmaceutical companies build up a safety stock for medicines intended for the French market. in order to prevent “more efficiently” stock shortages of essential medicines marketed in France, underlines theANSM. Among them, the drugs of major therapeutic interest (MITM) which are the specialties for which an interruption of treatment is likely to put the vital prognosis of patients at risk in the short or medium term or lead to a significant loss of luck. According to figures published by the government in 2022, 40% of MITM active ingredients are manufactured in Asia45% in Europe outside France and only 6% in France.