For several months, 450 drugs have been difficult to find in France. Top: amoxicillin. To avoid this shortage, the government has made a contract with 13 laboratories, according to information from TF1. Manufacturers agreed to provide more stock in exchange for a 10% price increase.
It will therefore be necessary to pay 23 cents more next October to obtain a box of this antibiotic, the most sold in France. Reimbursed at 65% by Health Insurance, a box of 14 tablets currently costs 5.89 euros, of which 2.06 euros paid by the patient. In a month, it will now be 2.29 euros.
In return for this price increase, the laboratories promised to deliver sufficient quantities. In the opposite case, they will be obliged to repay the surplus collected. A way for the government to ensure a supply of stocks in France while pharmacists deplore a shortage.
For their part, manufacturers plead for an increase in the cost of other drugs. Jérôme Wirotius, CEO of Biogaran, hopes that this increase “is just the beginning”. The laboratory explains that 150 drugs out of the 1,000 in its catalog make it “lose money” and asks that they be “priority upgraded”.
In the meantime, Biogaran is preparing to supply 13% more boxes of amoxicillin than last year, i.e. nearly 13 million. This deal is a first test. If it were to be effective, the Minister of Health plans to set up the same system for other drugs.
