A common antibiotic out of stock

France is temporarily obliged to import an antibiotic from Lebanon. Widely used, it is currently experiencing supply tensions, announces the National Medicines Safety Agency (ANSM). The amoxicillin / clavulanic acid combination, as powder for solution for injection, is not available in sufficient quantity. Hospital pharmacies will therefore receive “on an exceptional and transitional basis” an equivalent intended for the Lebanese market as of March 14.

Recurring tensions

The specialty in question is used in the hospital, where antibiotics can be prepared in liquid form for injection. The amoxicillin / clavulanic acid combination is intended, according to the ANSM, for “germs recognized as sensitive” but also when several bacterial species are suspected of causing infection. The spectrum of indications is therefore broad.

But amoxicillin / clavulanic acid is also intended for preventive approaches. After certain surgeries, the drug may be given to prevent post-operative infections.

Stockouts and supply strains tend to be repeated on this antibiotic. Already in February, another manufacturer experienced production difficulties. So much so that the French-language Infectious Pathology Society (SPILF) has issued recommendations substitution, at the request of the ANSM.

A quarter of antibiotic sales

It must be said that the amoxicillin / clavulanic acid combination is widely used in France. In town and at the hospital, it represents A quarter of total antibiotic consumption. Sales are much higher than other preparations and they are progressing. The combination is thus the second most used in France.

This success worries the health authorities, who fear the development of resistance. “This association is one of the antibiotics which generate particularly resistance”, underlines a summary note by Public Health France published end of 2016.

>> Consult our “Treatment” sheet – Antibiotics: reasoned use prevents the development of resistance