Pfizer adds shifts, invests resources to cope with surge in demand for syphilis treatment

As Pfiz­er con­tin­ues to grap­ple with in­creased de­mand for its an­tibi­ot­ic Bi­cillin, ex­perts wor­ry short­ages may stoke the wors­en­ing syphilis epi­dem­ic in the US.

The phar­ma gi­ant an­nounced last month that it an­tic­i­pates short­ages for cer­tain Bi­cillin L-A and Bi­cillin C-R pre­filled sy­ringes “due to an in­crease in syphilis in­fec­tion rates as well as com­pet­i­tive short­ages.” Bi­cillin is a long-act­ing form of peni­cillin com­mon­ly used to treat syphilis and is the on­ly drug cur­rent­ly rec­om­mend­ed to treat preg­nant women with the sex­u­al­ly trans­mit­ted in­fec­tion.

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