While in France shortages or supply tensions affect several drugs, including paracetamol, the French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi announced on Monday January 16 that it had achieved record production in 2022 of Doliprane, its brand name for paracetamol.
More than 420 million boxes of the Doliprane range will be produced and delivered in France in 2022, i.e. the highest level of production since the start of its marketing in 1964. This is the figure put forward by Sanofi.
By 2021, production had already increased significantly. The company produces this range of drugs in France and Germany, but imports the active ingredient, paracetamol, from China, India, the United States and Turkey. For now, there is no supply problem, says one to Sanofi.
Restrictive measures
For the company, market leader alongside the Upsa laboratory, the current tensions over drugs containing paracetamol are therefore not a production problem, but an increase in consumption, linked to the Covid-19 epidemic, doubled this winter from that of influenza and other viruses.
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In any case, the difficulties are real, especially in the pediatric forms. Since last summer, the National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Health Products has taken several measures: pharmacies cannot issue more than two boxes per person if there is no prescription. Latest decision: ban on internet sales medicines composed exclusively of paracetamol.