Pfizer Says It's Running Out of Penicillin Products

In the early days of penicillin use, the antibiotic was so scarce that scientists recycled it from patients' urine. The current situation is nowhere near as desperate, but Pfizer says it is dealing with a shortage and inventory of some items probably won't recover until the middle of next year, NPR reports. In a letter to the FDA and other customers, the company warned of a "limited supply and impending stock out situation" for some of its injectable penicillin products because of a "complex combination of factors including significant increases in demand, due to an increase in syphilis infection rates as well as competitive shortages."

Pfizer says it is likely to run out of one product, the pediatric version of Bicillin L-A, by the end of June. The product is used to treat syphilis and other infections in children and Pfizer says it is not widely used, though cases of the infection being passed to babies during pregnancy have surged in recent years, Reuters reports. Pfizer says it is running low on the product because it is focusing on meeting demand for the adult version. Pfizer says there is also a shortage of Bicillin C-R, which is used to treat infections including strep and scarlet fever.

"We are continuing to work with Pfizer and offer any assistance needed to help with supply,” an FDA spokesperson tells the Hill. “Pfizer is prioritizing the manufacturing of Bicillin L-A and additional releases for the adult formulation are expected this month." The Hill notes that in the military, Bicillin shots are known as the "peanut butter shot" because of the color. (More antibiotics stories.)