If the coronavirus epidemic does not impact the stocks of medicines at the moment, shortages or supply difficulties "cannot be excluded" in the future, warned the European Medicines Agency (EMA), on his site this Tuesday.
No problem has been reported at this stage, but the European Medicines Agency has started to deal with this eventuality, a review of medicinal products for human or veterinary use in order to identify those most at risk, while the vast majority of the active ingredients necessary for their manufacture come from Asia.
Manufacturing plant shutdowns and transportation restrictions
An executive committee has just been created within the European Union, bringing together the EMA, the European Commission and the competent authorities of each member country, dedicated to drug shortages caused by "major events", explains the Agency. .
Within the framework of Covid-19, this executive committee will identify and coordinate the European actions implemented to protect patients in the event of a risk of shortage, caused for example by the temporary shutdown of factories in the areas affected by the epidemic, or by transport restrictions having an impact on deliveries. This committee "will also ensure that patients and healthcare professionals across Europe are constantly and transparently informed of the risks and the actions taken to remedy them," said the EMA in its press release.
A recurring problem outside the coronavirus epidemic
Tensions in the supply of medicines have increased in recent years, even outside the context of an epidemic. The causes are variable, notably with the rise in global demand and a high concentration of production sites for active ingredients in India and China. In France, still outside the context of an epidemic, anti-infectives (such as vaccines or antibacterials) and drugs for the nervous system are among the classes of drugs most affected by stock shortages, according to Leem, the French Federation of 'pharmaceutical industry.
In mid-February, the former Minister of Health Agnès Buzyn had asked the French Medicines Agency to carry out a "risk analysis" in order to "identify all possible shortages in the supply of medicines when there is a link with China ”. At this stage, the Pharmaceutical Distribution Union Chamber indicated that it had not, however, recorded any problem in supplying pharmacies due to the coronavirus.
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