“We will have the possibility of purchasing additional doses of Beyfortus” if this treatment “were to run out”, reassures the Ministry of Health

“We will have the possibility of purchasing additional doses of Beyfortus during the fall and winter if this preventive monoclonal antibody against the bronchiolitis virus were to run out”, assured this Wednesday to franceinfo the entourage of the Minister of Health. A reassuring message while in town, pharmacies are unable to meet the demand of parents with a prescription for Beyfortus, the treatment for bronchiolitis for their baby.

Priority doses for newborns

The Ministry of Health explains that it met the CEO of the French laboratory Sanofi, one of the two laboratories which manufactures Beyfortus (with AstraZeneca). A usual procedure, especially when France runs out of doses of flu vaccine. In the case of bronchiolitis, Sanofi could thus provide additional doses of Beyfortus during the fall and winter that would have been ordered by other countries, but ultimately not used.

Beyfortus, this monoclonal antibody administered to children under one year old to combat bronchiolitis, is in high demand, so much so that pharmacists have expressed concerns in recent days. They fear that the 200,000 doses ordered by France for this immunization campaign will not be enough.

>> Bronchiolitis treatment already unavailable in pharmacies, less than two weeks after its release

The Beyfortus treatment campaign began on September 15, and according to the Directorate General of Health, the rate of parental adherence to this free preventive treatment is around 60%. The government initially expected 30%. So yesterday he had to prioritize doses for newborns, in maternity wards, to the detriment of those intended in pharmacies for children weighing less than 5kg.

To avoid dormant stocks, the Ministry of Health also calls on pharmacists not to order too many doses at once.