What alternative for schizophrenics?

what alternative schizophrenics?

Zypadhera is out of stock in France. In addition, And it is a dilemma for thousands of French people in psychological suffering. Furthermore, Indeed, this medication is not just any antipsychotic. Therefore, Marketed in injectable form, it contains olanzapine, a well -known molecule of psychiatrists since the 1990s. Similarly, This is a prolonged liberation form. Nevertheless, A single intramuscular injection is enough to cover two to four weeks of treatment.

For people with schizophrenia. Nevertheless, a chronic psychiatric disease which affects more than 600,000 French according to Inserm, this delay form is a considerable advance. Similarly, It ensures optimal observance. Nevertheless, In other words, no forgotten tablets, fewer relapses, less rehospitization.

According to health insurance data, nearly 20,000 patients in France received, in 2023, an injectable antipsychotic with prolonged action. A significant proportion of them specifically benefited from the zypadhera.

Why this supply of supply? – What alternative schizophrenics?

what alternative schizophrenics?

The CHEPLAPHARM laboratory, which has marketing in Europe, evokes technical production problems combined with logistical chain difficulties. But that’s not all. Two recent lots have been removed from the market for quality faults. As a result, a brutal stock rupture and an inability to relaunch distribution within the expected deadlines.

Initially, a recovery was announced for September 2025. But the National Medicines Safety Agency (ANSM) confirmed on August 13 that the date of delivery was now undetermined.

Zypadhera: What to do with the shortage? – What alternative schizophrenics?

What consequences for patients and their families? – What alternative schizophrenics?

Schizophrenia is a disease with complex symptoms:

• hallucinations,
• delusional ideas,
• Cognitive disorders …

But what most often weakens the course of patients is the difficulty in following long -term treatment. However, this is where the Zypadhera brought a precious solution. Its disappearance therefore endangers a what alternative schizophrenics? balance that is sometimes long constructed. Psychiatrists fear:

• Relapses linked to the sudden stop of the treatment or to the slightest observance with an oral form.
• Avoidable, often long and costly hospitalizations.
• Additional anxiety for families, already tested by the disease.

The official recommendations of the ANSM

To avoid a wider health crisis. the ANSM has disseminated very specific recommendations to healthcare professionals:

• No longer start new treatments with the zypadhera. The rare doses still available should be reserved for patients already followed.
• Favor the relay by oral olanzapine: the tablet must be introduced on the scheduled date of the next injection. with increased clinical monitoring. Important: Zypadhera continues to broadcast Olanzapine up to 6 to 8 months after the last injection. which complicates the adaptation of the doses.
• Consider another injectable antipsychotic with prolonged action (risperidone. paligeridone, aripiprazole), but always after having tested what alternative schizophrenics? the patient’s tolerance in oral form.

These recommendations insist on a fundamental principle: never stop treatment without medical advice.

Alternatives. but no miracle solution

In practice, psychiatrists are found today with three main options:

1. Oral olanzapine: same molecule, but in compressed form. Major risk: a drop in compliance.
2. Other long -acting injectable antipsychotics: Risperdone (Risperdal ob®), Paligeridone (Xeplion®, Trevicta®), Aripiprazole (Abilify Maintena®). Each has differences in terms of efficiency and side effects.
3. Personalized adaptation: choice depending on tolerance, efficiency, history and family monitoring.

But none of these solutions perfectly replaces the zypadhera for patients who have benefited for years.

The shortage exceeds French borders

France is not the only one concerned. In Belgium, the health authorities have confirmed that the Zypadhera (all dosages combined) would be unavailable at least until October 2025. A taskforce of experts was formed to support what alternative schizophrenics? psychiatrists in the establishment of alternative solutions. ranging from the injectable aripiprazole to the oral forms of Olanzapine.

In reality. this shortage illustrates a more global problem: European dependence at some pharmaceutical production sites, often concentrated outside the national territory.

A new alert on the fragility of supply chains

After the shortages of amoxicillin. paracetamol in 2023, history is therefore repeated. More worrying. according to the latest report by the European Medicines Agency (EMA), more than 300 essential drugs are currently reported in tension or breaking into the European Union.

Each time. the same causes return: production concentrated on a few sites, difficulties of raw materials, quality problems, globalized transport vulnerable to crises. This break in Zypadhera is therefore not an isolated accident: it once again emphasizes the structural fragility of the. European pharmaceutical system.

NAMELY

After an injection of what alternative schizophrenics? Zypadhera. the patient must remain under surveillance for 3 hours at the hospital or in a specialized center. It is a rule set by the High Authority for Health (HAS). because in rare cases, the drug can cause strong drowsiness or brutal confusion, called post-injection sedative syndrome.