A vast mobilization against the drop in generic discounts was launched by the unions of the profession, which fear the closure of one in three in France.
Thousands of city pharmacies are likely to lower the curtain this Saturday, August 16. At the call of the Union of Unions of Frame Pharmacists (USPO), joined by several professional organizations, a massive pharmacy strike is announced to protest against the gradual reduction in commercial discounts granted by laboratories on generic drugs. “Almost 90% of pharmacies will be closed on Saturday in certain departments, in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region, in Côte-d’Or, in Saône-et-Loire, or in the Gers”warned Pierre-Olivier Variot, president of the USPO, at the microphone of local media on Tuesday. “We are not on strike, we are just closed to think about it, any closures, upcoming layoffs.”
Anger has risen a notch after the publication at Official Journalon August 4, the decree fixing new ceilings to the commercial discounts on the generics. Indeed, until August 31, 2025, pharmacies can benefit from discounts of up to 40% on generics, granted by laboratories, which assured them a significant margin to resale, then compensated by social security which reimburses the drug at full prices. From September 1, the threshold will be limited to 30% until June 2026, and it could drop to 20% in 2027.
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500 million euros in medication
This reform is part of a government plan aimed at 1.7 billion euros in health spending in 2025, 500 million of which target the post “drugs”. The executive intends to reduce expenditure while continuing to promote the use of generics, less expensive than specialties under patent.
But professionals fear the financial counterpouil of these budgetary restrictions. For pharmacies, these discounts indeed represent an essential part of the commercial margin. “The generic economy for the pharmacist is not important, it’s vital. You cannot announce a goal in white that you cut your food, it is not possible ”protested yesterday, at the microphone here, Marc Sartorio, president of the Union of Calvados pharmacists.
According to the unions, the drop in margins could cause the closure of one in three pharmacies in France, or around 6,000 pharmacies. The small local structures, already weakened by the increase in charges and the recruitment difficulties, would be the most exposed. “The pharmaceutical network will be weakened. The quality of care will suffer, there will be no more this mesh which today covers France perfectly ”Alerte Marc Sartorio.
A mobilization called to last
Since July 1, several unions, including the Federation of Pharmaceutical Unions of France (FSPF), the National Union of French Pharmacies (UNPF) and the USPO, have already called for a “Unlimited guard of the guard”. Many duty pharmacies then decided to lower the curtain, including in areas where access to care is already tense. The intersyndicale plans to renew these punctual closures at the start of the school year, with a national day on September 18, then “Every Saturday from September 27”. “The decree is published, anger is immense, but our determination will not weaken”hammers the Uspo.
