Pfizer warns of a looming penicillin supply shortage

The Pfizer logo is displayed on the exterior of a former Pfizer factory, on May 4, 2014, in the Brooklyn borough of New York.

Mark Lennihan / Mark Lennihan

Pfizer is facing a shortage of penicillin due to increased demand and more diagnoses of syphilis, the company said in a letter to its customers this week.

The company said there is an “impending stock out situation” for select Bicillin L-A and Bicillin C-R prefilled syringes, Pfizer’s brand name of injectable penicillin.

Prefilled Bicillin L-A pediatric syringes are expected to begin running low by the end of June, while all Bicillin C-R syringes could begin diminishing in the third quarter of this year.