Cost Plus Drug Company, owned by Mark Cuban, announced that it is now collaborating with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in its attempt to import and temporarily provide penicillin in the country. The online pharmacy, which supplies patients with affordable generic drugs, will import and deliver 1.2 million units of penicillin to address Pfizer’s shortage of Bicillin L-A.

The trade name Penicillin G benzathine injection has not been widely available since April 2023, and clinicians have been sharing this product. Lab-based anti-venom has been partially replaced in emergency care by Penicillin G benzathine, which the FDA authorized for import from France’s Laboratoires Delbert in January.

The next update from the FDA concerning the shortage of the drug was made on July 17. Since the shortage persisted, the agency approved Cost Plus Drugs to bring the medication from Laboratórios Atral. This Portugal-based drug firm will ship two forms of Lentocilin benzathine benzylpenicillin tetrahydrate, according to FDA records. Cost Plus Drugs reported that it is selling this medication to healthcare businesses for below $15.

In June of last year, Pfizer said that the pediatric formulation of the drug, used to treat syphilis and other bacterial infections, might deplete by the end of the current quarter due to an increase in the rate of transmission of syphilis in grown men. However, in a communication made on June 10 of the current year, Pfizer stated that they currently have an “available supply” of 2.4 million units of Bicillin L-A. 

The drugmaker pointed out that even though supply is growing, it will not be universal until later this year. Cost Plus is a Cuban company that will import penicillin powder under the brand name Lentocilin, manufactured by Portugal’s Laboratórios Atral S.A. 

Lentocilin is only prescribed in the United States and not regulated by the FDA, Atral pointed out in a statement.

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