In Italy there are about 2 thousand pharmacies specialized in galenics, the ancient art of preparing medicines in the form of tablets, capsules, syrups, ointments and eye drops. It is the first estimate that emerges from the mapping that the Italian Society of Preparatory Pharmacists (Sifap) started with the Federation of Pharmacists’ Orders (Fofi) by sending a questionnaire to the 20,000 public and private pharmacies in Italy to take a first official picture of this activity. All pharmacies, equipped by law with a laboratory, can prepare the products on paper, but those that by commercial and entrepreneurial choice deal with them in a structured and continuous manner are only a part.
The identikit of “preparatory” pharmacists
The final results of the survey will be presented at the congress celebrating the thirtieth anniversary of Sifap, scheduled for 25 March in Rome at the Nobile Collegio Chimico Farmaceutico. the “generic” prices or when the patient has specific needs, the preparatory pharmacists can create “custom” products in laboratories equipped with the most modern equipment and according to nationally standardized procedures. “The pharmacies that deal with galenics – anticipate our tested the professor Paola Minghettipresident of Sifap and professor of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences of the State University of Milan – are distributed homogeneously from North to South, even if the first available data show a greater capillarity in Veneto and Puglia».
The incidence of Galenics in Italy
The president of Sifap then explains that «galenic preparations represent less than 0.1% of the total number of medicines sold in Italy. This production is a niche activity, which requires specific skills and also significant economic investments. From an initial analysis of the survey, all the pharmacies that deal with galenics are able to prepare the simplest preparations, such as syrups, while 90% said they deal with the preparation of capsules and ointments». “On the other hand, around 30% of the exercises – continues the teacher – are also specialized in rectal medicines, such as suppositories or micro-enemas, and in the preparation of sterile medicines such as eye drops, such as atropine for patients with maculopathies, and injectables ».
What the National Protocols say
«According to the Consolidated Act of 1934, of which some cornerstones are still in force, all pharmacies must be able, in case of need and shortages, to be able to supply urgent medicines – adds Minghetti – and must equip themselves for this with a laboratory galenic, a mandatory requirement to obtain authorization to exercise. However, the degrees of specialization of each are different. Together with Sifo, the Italian Society of Hospital Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Services of Healthcare Companies, we have been collaborating for years in the development of operating instructions by promoting uniform procedures for the preparation of an effective and safe masterful preparation to protect the individual patient. Sifap and Sifo are scientific societies recognized by the Ministry of Health, committed to the objective of guaranteeing the missing drug when indispensable”.
Countermeasures for unobtainable drugs
In recent times, preparatory pharmacists have helped to resolve some emergencies related to the lack of products or active ingredients that have become unobtainable in certain periods. This is the case of ibuprofen for pediatric use, unavailable on the market last summer following the increase in cases of Covid-19 and other respiratory viruses in the infant population. «The use of this anti-inflammatory and antipyretic molecule – adds Minghetti – is indicated for the treatment of fever and inflammatory symptoms and the packs sold out in the months of July and August. The pharmacists therefore undertook to supply syrups, even at the rate of 40-50 bottles a day, prepared in their laboratories and suitable for administration to young patients. For them, in fact, there are few active and safe ingredients available and when industrial production fails to meet the needs of a certain market or a certain period, it is possible to make up for it with galenic, certainly a safe product, also avoiding parents handle adult medicines at home, usually in tablets, with all the risks associated with an incorrect dosage”.