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Emmanuel Macron is expected to announce on Tuesday June 13 that France will produce its own drugs. He had made this promise during the Covid crisis which had shown the dependence of the country, especially on China. But for months, pharmacies are still struggling to deliver drugs.
In this pharmacy in Issy-les-Moulineaux (Hauts-de-Seine), as everywhere in France, certain basic drugs are running out, such as paracetamol. “We don’t have a prescription owhere we don’t tell our patients: ‘ATAttention we no longer have this product’”says Frederic Desmoulin, pharmacist. The problem is that 80% of the active ingredient in paracetamol comes from China and India. “The production of paracetamol, we had it (…) until the relocation. Manufacturers to minimize production costs have relocated”explains William Feysof the Observatory on the Transparency of Medicines.
Factory under construction
To strengthen its sovereignty, France will once again produce this active ingredient in a factory still under construction in Roussillon (Isère). The director expects 15,000 tons per year, two to three times the French market. The production of paracetamol 100% French was to start in 2023, but it will finally be effective in 2025 or in 2026.