March 11, 2015
By Riley McDermid, BioSpace.com Breaking News Sr. Editor
Pfizer Inc. will recall six medicines it accidentally distributed without childproof caps, some of which are deeply toxic to children, the company said this week in a statement.
Pfizer listed the drugs with faulty caps as having the brand names Xanax (for anxiety), Halcion (a sleep medication), Ponstan (for menstrual pain), Dostinex (for lactation suppression), Cabaser (a treatment for Parkinson’s disease) and Methoblastin (an enzyme blocker used for cancer, arthritis and psoriasis).
Pfizer said it had launched a product review after receiving two complaints about the drugs being distributed in child-resistant packaging.
“Pfizer places the utmost emphasis on patient safety and product quality,” the company said in a statement. “Care should be taken to ensure that the product is kept out of the reach of children, as stated on the product packaging.”
The company has asked that patients with the medicines immediately return them to pharmacies for child-resistant replacements.
“Consumers and health professionals are advised that a number of different Pfizer medicines are subject to recall actions because they have been supplied to the market in bottles without child-resistant caps,” said a spokesperson with the Therapeutic Goods Association, which monitors such recalls.
Pfizer said the action does not apply to its Ponstan 250mg capsules in blister packs, which are available over the counter.
BioSpace Temperature Poll
Vertex Pharmaceuticals made news last week when it terminated leases on three properties in Cambridge, Mass, that freed up 313,000 square feet of space in the Genetown area. The company has spent a significant part of 2014 consolidating its operations on the South Boston waterfront, leasing 291,000 square feet of office space at West Kendall Street in Cambridge’s Kendall Square. So we wanted to ask the BioSpace community: Is Boston going to be getting more biotech leases anytime soon, or fewer tenants?
