FDA Allows Imports of Syphilis Drug Amid Pfizer Shortage (2)

US regulators gave temporary permission for importation of a form of penicillin used to treat syphilis amid a national shortage of Pfizer Inc.’s version of the drug along with a dramatic increase in cases.

The Food and Drug Administration authorized importation of penicillin G benzathine made by a French company, Laboratoires Delbert, according to the agency website. Pfizer’s Bicillin L-A, the only version of the drug available in the US, has been in short supply since April.

Penicillin G benzathine is the preferred treatment for syphilis and the only medication for the congenital form of the disease, which ...