Quetiapine, a drug commonly used for several psychiatric disorders, will become even more difficult to find in the coming weeks, the drug agency warned on August 5. The French National Agency for the Safety of Medicines (ANSM) announced in a press release: a deterioration in the availability of these treatments until mid-September 2025", referring more specifically to the 300 mg and 400 mg dosages of quetiapine.
This drug, used in particular to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, has already been experiencing supply difficulties for months following production issues at one of its main manufacturers, the Greek laboratory Pharmathen. Until now, these tensions, although they caused difficulties for many patients, had been limited thanks to the production of quetiapine by the American company Viatris. However, this company is now experiencing difficulties.
“ The ANSM has been informed of a delay in the production of quetiapine 300 mg LP and 400 mg LP medicines by the Viatris laboratory.", reports the agency, referring to " a delay in packaging the finished product"The problem does not concern a lighter dosage of quetiapine, at 50 mg, specifies the ANSM, which nevertheless warns caregivers against the temptation to prescribe it as a replacement for heavier dosages. The risk would indeed be, warns the agency, to penalize in turn the patients to whom this lighter dosage is normally prescribed.
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Alternative solutions
“ We are seeking alternative supply solutions with all laboratories marketing quetiapine in France and Europe." she reports. " We have asked laboratories that can do so to release all of their stocks immediately." she adds.
The problems with quetiapine are part of a broader context of shortages of several psychiatric medications, a situation that is worrying many medical specialists. In its latest update on the situation in mid-July, the ANSM reported that these difficulties persisted in general, despite improvements in certain treatments such as the antidepressant sertraline (Zoloft).
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