Damoxicillin shortages Pharmacists called to the rescue of manufacturers

Rue Danton is located in the center of Paris's 6th arrondissement. Two pharmacists greet the final customers of the day, Friday, January 13, behind the counter of the Delpech pharmacy, a landmark in the neighborhood.

There are ten of them calmly standing in line with prescriptions in hand. Unaware of it, a small army of 70 preparers has been working since the morning to create skillful preparations in the nooks and crannies of the basement.

These professionals create hundreds of "tailor-made" medications in their laboratories, which they then ship to French pharmacies in the form of capsules, tablets, ointments, syrups, and suppositories. Rachida El Hssaini, the preparatory manager, says, "Every time a drug is missing from the shelves [of a pharmacy] or that the formulation of the marketed drug is unsuitable for the patient, we are there." Rachida then glances at the large screen mounted to the wall, where the number of orders to be filled is shown in real time.

She is getting ready to start a production of amoxicillin for pediatric use with a small team of volunteers, just like she has been doing every day for a month. She is wearing a white blouse and a cap that is screwed onto her head. In order to prevent cross-contamination, we recently cleaned the lab and the equipment, she says.

Now that this is done, we can begin production. Every evening, 9,000 capsules—or the equivalent of 600 treatments—are typically produced.

Approximately two hours pass. » Extra Time Enough to last several days and supply dozens of pharmacies.

In order to make up for the shortages of this antibiotic used to treat bacterial infections, the National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and of Health Products (ANSM) called on Delpech, along with all other pharmacies with a focus on magistral preparations and subcontracting authorization — of which there are nearly fifty in France — in November 2022. The establishment's head, Fabien Bruno, who has just concluded a remote meeting with the authority, remarks that "this is the first time that a coordinated organization of this type has been set up on a national scale.".

sanitary. It has become customary, he continues.

To assess how the situation is changing, we hold [meetings] twice or three times per week. It's 6 p.

m. Amoxicillin production starts in the basements.

Rachida El Hssaini weighs 150 grams of the active ingredient's raw form on a scale before transferring the powder to a plastic cup. A metal capsule filler that quickly stores upright and removes capsule heads is used by Vineeta, a pharmacy assistant, to fill 300 empty 500 milligram (mg) capsules that are laid out horizontally on a plate in the adjacent workshop.

"We then use the cup to pour the amoxicillin powder into it, and we scrape the plate's surface to distribute it evenly throughout all of the capsules. It's not that difficult," she quips with a smile.

50.29 percent of this article is still left for you to read. The information below is only available to subscribers.

A metal capsule filler, operated by pharmacy technician Vineeta, arranges 300 empty capsules with a 500 milligram (mg) capacity vertically and removes the capsule heads after Vineeta has placed them horizontally on a plate. "We then use the cup to pour the amoxicillin powder into it, and we scrape the plate's surface to distribute it evenly throughout all of the capsules.

It's not that difficult," she quips with a smile. 50.29 percent of this article is still left for you to read.

The information below is only available to subscribers. A metal capsule filler, operated by pharmacy technician Vineeta, arranges 300 empty capsules with a 500 milligram (mg) capacity vertically and removes the capsule heads after Vineeta has placed them horizontally on a plate.

"We then use the cup to pour the amoxicillin powder into it, and we scrape the plate's surface to distribute it evenly throughout all of the capsules. It's not that difficult," she quips with a smile.

50.29 percent of this article is still left for you to read. The information below is only available to subscribers.

it is then evenly distributed throughout all of the capsules by scraping the plate's surface. It's not that difficult," she quips with a smile.

50.29 percent of this article is still left for you to read. The information below is only available to subscribers.

it is then evenly distributed throughout all of the capsules by scraping the plate's surface. It's not that difficult," she quips with a smile.

50.29 percent of this article is still left for you to read. The information below is only available to subscribers.

In order to make up for the shortages of this antibiotic used to treat bacterial infections, the National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and of Health Products (ANSM) called on Delpech, along with all other pharmacies with a focus on magistral preparations and subcontracting authorization — of which there are nearly fifty in France — in November 2022.