The French High Council for Public Health (HCSP) has issued an opinion, at the request of the Directorate General for Health, on the appropriateness of maintaining oseltamivir, an antiviral active against influenza viruses, in the French government's strategic stockpile.

The HCSP experts took into account:

• the efficacy of oseltamivir in a pandemic situation;
• the strategic stockpile target of 30% of the population;
• the current volume of the French government's strategic stockpile of antivirals, which exceeds the target for 2024 and reaches it in 2025;
• the low short-term pandemic risk.

The HCSP recommends:

• pursue multi-year commitments for antiviral stockpiling in the event of an influenza pandemic;
• not to question the potential value of oseltamivir which, despite the development of new anti-influenza antivirals, should retain its place of choice in the arsenal of preventive and curative treatments for pandemic influenza;
• adopt a moratorium on new purchases of oseltamivir, as the French government's stockpile is sufficient to cover 2025, in line with the expiry dates currently in force in France;
• seek to extend the shelf life of the originator (Tamiflu®) and the generic (Ebilfumin®) currently in stock, within a timeframe to be defined by the National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Health Products (ANSM);
• initiate discussions on new regulatory provisions to enable the State's strategic stockpile to be redirected to other structures for use before it expires, and to limit its destruction.

In a forthcoming opinion, the HCSP will give its opinion on the integration of new molecules active against influenza viruses, and on the volume of antivirals in government stocks.