Global Courant
Pfizer Inc. is experiencing a shortage of penicillin in the US amid increased demand, but the pharmaceutical company said Canada should not be affected by the lack of supply for now.
The supply shortfall is due to an increase in demand as syphilis infections rise “as well as competitive shortfalls,” Pfizer said in a statement. letter to customers on June 12.
In an email to CTVNews.ca, Christina Antoniou, director of affairs at Pfizer Canada, said Friday that they are monitoring the situation “closely” and that it “has no impact on Canada at this time.”
In the letter to customers in the US, the pharmaceutical and biotechnology company said select items such as Bicillin LA and Bicillin CR prefilled syringes – Pfizer’s brand name for injectable penicillin – will not be available in the US until further notice.
Penicillin is an antibiotic used to treat various types of diseases, including pneumonia and sexually transmitted diseases such as syphilis.
Syphilis cases are on the rise in Canada
In the past five years, syphilis has experienced a global resurgence, and Canada has been an outlier among wealthy countries in terms of rates increasing 13-fold over five years, according to Health Canada.
According to preliminary CDC data, there were 2,677 cases of congenital syphilis in the US in 2021 for a population of 332 million. Canada had 96 cases out of a population of 38 million, according to Health Canada.
CTVNews.ca reached out to Health Canada to learn more about Pfizer’s situation and supply shortfall.
–with files from Reuters
