May 27 (Reuters) – The vaccine arm of Australian biopharmaceutical giant CSL said on Wednesday it will discontinue sales of an injectable medicine used to treat bacterial infections, citing the availability of several generic alternatives.
CSL’s Seqirus notified the country’s medicine regulator, Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), that it will progressively discontinue all strengths of Benpen injection products, beginning with the 600 milligram (mg) dose from the end of November.
“CSL Seqirus will no longer supply Benpen to the Australian market, due to the registration of several generic products,” the vaccine unit said.
Benzylpenicillin sodium, the active ingredient in Benpen, is an injectable antibiotic widely used to treat bacterial infections following surgery and other medical procedures.
“The discontinuations are due to commercial decisions and are not related to product safety, quality or effectiveness,” the TGA said, adding that the supply of the injection will continue until the existing stock is exhausted.
Alternative Australian-registered benzylpenicillin sodium injection brands are expected to be available in the future, the regulator said.
(Reporting by Shivangi Lahiri in Bengaluru, Additional reporting by Shruti Agarwal; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee and Eileen Soreng)
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