Paris (AFP)
The Agence du Medecine (ANSM) announced Thursday the end of some "binding measures" for the distribution of corticosteroid drugs in pharmacies, because of the marked improvement in the situation after months of strong supply tensions.
"Patients' access to oral corticosteroids has improved in recent weeks, so ANSM lifts the quota set during the period of supply stress and allows the resumption of the direct sale of the laboratories to pharmacies ", she announced in a point on the situation.
Since last spring, "for several months, many patients have faced difficulties in obtaining in their pharmacy corticosteroid-based drugs, due to production problems encountered by some manufacturers," says the National Security Agency of the drug (ANSM).
To reduce these tensions, the ANSM had prohibited the direct sale of laboratories to pharmacies, except emergency repairs.
Oral steroids were delivered to pharmacies by wholesalers-distributors, "more able to guarantee a regular and fair delivery of each pharmacy in the territory".
The health agency had also suspended exports of these drugs to other countries, a measure that remains in force "until the complete regulation of the supply of the French market."
According to a table published by the ANSM on its website, updated on 13 November, stocks and supplies "cover needs for a period longer than 1 month" for all products concerned.
These are prednisone-based medicines (Cortancyl from the Sanofi laboratory and its generics) and prednisolone (Solupred, also from Sanofi, and its generics), steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs belonging to the family of synthetic corticosteroids.
They are used in the treatment of many conditions involving an inflammatory or allergic component (multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, but also asthma attacks, sinusitis, otitis ...), in certain cancers and to prevent rejection of transplants. organs because they decrease immune responses.
© 2019 AFP