Traçabilité des antibiotiques en France

The report highlights a critical lack of transparency in the antibiotic supply chain for the French market, noting that while formulation often occurs in Europe, active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) are primarily sourced from India and China. It documents severe environmental pollution and the proliferation of antibiotic-resistant bacteria around production sites in these countries, linking specific manufacturers like Aurobindo and Mylan to these impacts. The document argues that current French public procurement processes fail to account for these environmental risks and calls for a global audit and stricter transparency requirements to combat antimicrobial resistance.

• France is heavily dependent on third-party countries for antibiotic supplies; for example, while a high percentage of Amoxicillin is manufactured in Europe, the key raw material 6-amino penicillanic acid (6-APA) is produced outside Europe.
• Approximately 80% of the world's antibiotics are produced in China and India, where factories frequently discharge untreated or poorly treated waste into the environment, contributing to the development of 'superbugs'.
• The Patancheru-Bollaram industrial center in Hyderabad, India, is a major pollution hotspot; 2007 analyses showed Ciprofloxacin concentrations one million times higher than normal wastewater, and a 2014 study found 81 types of resistance genes in the nearby Lake Kazipally.
• There is significant opacity in the antibiotic supply chain for France, as medication leaflets typically list formulators or importers rather than the actual API manufacturers, making it difficult to link French products to polluted sites.
• Several Indian manufacturers with documented pollution records, such as Aurobindo (via Arrow Génériques), are active suppliers for French public health procurement in hospitals.
• Current environmental certifications used in French public procurement, such as ISO 14001, are deemed inadequate because they do not require specific data on the treatment of active substance residues in effluents.

APA

Changing Markets Foundation (2017). Traçabilité des antibiotiques en France. https://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Marche_des_antibiotiques_France.pdf

Chicago

Changing Markets Foundation. Traçabilité des antibiotiques en France. 2017. https://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Marche_des_antibiotiques_France.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Changing Markets Foundation |title=Traçabilité des antibiotiques en France |date=February 2017 |url=https://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Marche_des_antibiotiques_France.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{changingmarketsfoundation2017traabilit, author = {{Changing Markets Foundation}}, title = {{Traçabilité des antibiotiques en France}}, institution = {Changing Markets Foundation}, year = {2017}, month = feb, url = {https://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Marche_des_antibiotiques_France.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }