Heartburn Pill in Short Supply After Word of Covid-19 Trial

(Bloomberg) -- A generic pill used to treat ulcers, acid reflux and heartburn has been added to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s list of drug shortages, just over a week after a report that famotidine was being tested in high intravenous doses as a potential treatment for Covid-19 patients.

Drugmakers including Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Carlsbad Technology Inc. and Aurobindo Pharma Ltd. reported increased demand for the tablets, which are known in branded form as Pepcid.

Teva said several 100-, 500- and 1,000-count bottles were on backorder with expected recovery in the fourth quarter. Carlsbad reported to the FDA: “We do have some stock, however, due to such high demand, we cannot send to all customers. We send as much as we can.” Aurobindo said that availability to support incremental demand is estimated for the week of June 15.

The journal Science on April 26 reported on a clinical trial in which critically ill Covid-19 patients at Northwell Health in the New York City area were receiving nine times the heartburn dose. Interim results from 391 patients could be known in “a few weeks,” according to a hospital researcher. Days later, the Washington Post reported that people had started “hoarding” the medicine.

The famotidine shortage comes just over a month after the FDA requested manufacturers pull supplies of another acid reducer, ranitidine, known by the brand name Zantac, after unacceptably high levels of a carcinogen were found in some samples.

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