Paracetamol alone symbolizes the drug shortages that France has suffered since the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. The supply tension on the molecule adored by the French immediately made headlines. The French are indeed the first European consumers and, in its Doliprane version produced by the Sanofi laboratory, have even raised it to the top rank of their favorite brands in 2021.
The executive undertook in the spring of 2020 to repatriate the production of paracetamol on French soil “within 3 years”, according to a press release from the ministers of Health and Industry at the time. The government’s desire was to make paracetamol an “example” of reindustrialization in the field of health.
This Tuesday, June 13, 2023, three years almost to the day after the announcements of the government of the time, Emmanuel Macron gave a speech on “health sovereignty” of France, in Ardèche, pledging to quickly renationalise production of 50 drugs, including 25 “in the coming weeks”. Paracetamol is included in this shortlist of 25 priority products, but it is clear that its production will not be renationalised in the coming weeks.
A plant project has actually been launched in Isère, under the leadership of the pharmaceutical laboratory Seqens and with the backing of public subsidies. While the production of paracetamol was to begin in 2023 on the Roussillon site, the date continues to be postponed. “The French production of paracetamol should not be launched before 2024”, says one to the Ministry of Health, explaining that the establishment of a factory, “it takes time”.
Contacted by Le Figaro, the pharmaceutical company behind the project has not yet responded. The president of Seqens, Pierre Luzeau, however confirmed to France 3 the extension of the deadlines. “We are in the pharmacy: between the moment we imagine and the moment we realize, finally it takes between three and five years depending on the molecules”, specified Pierre Luzeau. According to information from our colleagues, the marketing of 100% French paracetamol will not begin before 2026.
The serious delays in the relocation of paracetamol production in France raise questions about administrative delays. “We have a whole qualification and validation process which also takes time,” explained the president of Seqens. Emmanuel Macron recognized this during his speech before announcing the creation of a one-stop shop dedicated to pharmaceutical companies aimed precisely at going “much faster” in the deployment of industrial projects.
