The National Medicines Safety Agency reported “strong tensions” on the supply of this medication in France, used to treat bronchiolites, rhinopharyngitis or otitis.
By Zeliha Chaffin
Will we soon miss Amoxicillin? For several weeks, this antibiotic, one of the most commonly prescribed in the French pharmacopoeia, used, among other things, in the treatment of rhinopharyngitis, otitis, bronchiolitis or even bacterial angins, has been becoming increasingly rare behind the pharmacy counters. An observation that worries health professionals, while winter pathologies are making an early return this year.
Anxious to avoid shortages, the National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Health Products (ANSM) sounded the alarm: “Amoxicillin is the subject of strong supply tensions in France “She explained, Friday, November 18, adding that the latter could last until March. The difficulties mainly concern the oral solutions in the bottle, mainly administered to children and infants, and affect all pharmaceutical laboratories (Sandoz, Viatris, Biogaran, etc.), which market them in France.
“There is indeed a sharp increase in the demand for amoxicillin, to which it is difficult to respond today, despite the efforts of manufacturers to increase production capacities”, it is confirmed by French BIOGARAN. The generic specialist sells on average twelve million amoxicillin boxes per year in the country, or around 28 % of national consumption. For the past year, he has seen the demand for this antibiotic jump by 51 %.
“40 million boxes” between January and October 2>
In question: the return in force of winter infections. With confinements and social distancing measures, the latter had experienced a dizzying fall over the past two years. Faced with low demand, the factories had then reduced the wing on the production lines. The decline in wearing the mask and barriers, and the reappearance of seasonal epidemics has once again made prescription flambé. “This year, from January to October, the request for Amoxicillin is around 40 million boxes, while in 2020 and in 2021 we were very below, rather around 30 million boxes,” explains the ministry of Health.
Faced with growing demand in recent months, pharmaceutical manufacturers have mobilized, but “putting the production lines in working order takes time”, it specifies at Biogaran. Laboratories and their suppliers also had to face a complicated situation between inflation, the world’s supply difficulties on certain components and labor shortages in factories and on delivery logistics chains.
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