Pharmacists support alcohol recovery by producing Antabuse

After pharma producer Sanofi announced that it would no longer produce Antabuse, Belgian doctors and pharmacists stepped in. Since early May, the drug for alcohol addiction has been available again, the Mediahuis newspapers reported on Tuesday.

Those who take Antabuse and then drink alcohol feel nauseous and become short of breath, helping people with alcohol addiction to stay sober. Sanofi stopped producing the drug due to the unstable supply of the active ingredient, disulfiram.

Following that announcement, the Flemish Association for Psychiatry worked with the Pharmacists' Association and the Federal Agency for Medicines and Health Products (FAMHP) to provide an alternative.

The Pharmacists' Association asked local suppliers to produce disulfiram in mass quantities. That request succeeded, and since the beginning of May, pharmacists have been allowed to make the drug themselves.

The FAMHP also confirmed that discussions are under way to bring Antabuse back on the market through a different pharma company.

^{© BELGA PHOTO LOAN SILVESTRE}