Foremost, Patient Health: The Challenge of Security Stocks
Ensuring access to medication: A crucial priority!
The ANSM has taken a strong stance by imposing €8 million in financial penalties on 11 pharmaceutical companies for failing to meet their security stock obligations for essential medicines (MITM). This decision underscores the critical importance of maintaining a stable supply to meet urgent patient needs.
Key regulations since 2021: Certain medications must maintain a minimum security stock of 4 months (compared to 2 months for others) if they have experienced frequent shortages over the past two years. Currently, 748 medicines are affected, up from 422 in 2021, highlighting the growing importance of this measure.
What is an MITM? These are essential medicines, as their absence could result in severe consequences for patients. This includes cancer treatments, antibiotics, anti-Parkinson's drugs, and many other crucial classes. The industry must identify MITM in their portfolios to ensure robust shortage management plans.
A proactive and resilient approach: Increasing stocks and tightening sanctions are critical steps to ensure continuous availability of essential treatments and protect public health. This measure should be viewed not as a constraint, but as an opportunity to strengthen our collective resilience and anticipate risks efficiently.
An indispensable collective effort: Combating medicine shortages relies on collaboration among all pharmaceutical supply chain actors. By sharing best practices and optimizing our stock management systems, we can guarantee uninterrupted access to treatments for all.
2023 Figures: The ANSM managed nearly 5,000 reports of stock shortages or risks of shortages, a third more compared to 2022 and six times more than in 2018. Additionally, 6 sanctions were imposed, totaling €560,000.
Let's use this obligation to transform our ability to deliver without fail and strengthen public trust. Let's commit to a future of sustainable health and uninterrupted supply!
Together, let's make a difference!
