Pregenics and Pfizer warning on Alcohol Preps.

NEW YORK — Progenics Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Pfizer Inc. said Tuesday they are warning physicians and patients not to use the alcohol prep pads that come with its Relistor injection kits because the pads have been recalled by their manufacturer.
Relistor is an injectable drug that is used to treat constipation in patients who are on opioid pain medications. The drug is sold in individual vials, as well as in kits that include vials, syringes, and alcohol prep pads that are swiped over the skin to clean the site for injection. The prep pads are made by Triad Group Inc., and earlier this month, Triad recalled all its alcohol prep pads, swabs, and swab sticks because one of its customers was concerned that the products were contaminated with bacillus cereus, a bacterium that can cause food-borne illnesses.
The contamination could cause life-threatening infections, Triad said. So far, it has received one report of a non-life-threatening skin infection.
Progenics and Pfizer said doctors and patients who have the Relistor kits should use a different alcohol pad or a sterile gauze pad with the injection. The kits remain on the market, but shipments of new kits have been suspended until all the pads can be replaced. Triad's pads are not included in Relistor single-vial kits or in any Relistor kits sold outside the U.S.
Triad's recall started Jan. 5. Its alcohol pads were sold in the U.S., Canada, and Europe under Triad's name, and under third-party brands including CVS, Walgreens, Cardinal Health, PSS Select, and others.
Relistor is approved for use in patients with advanced illnesses who are receiving specialized care to reduce the pain of their illness. Progenics sold the drug through a partnership with Wyeth, but Wyeth ended the collaboration as it was being acquired by Pfizer in late 2009. Progenics is trying to get additional market approvals to bolster sales of the drug, which totaled $4.1 million in the third quarter of 2010.
Shares of Progenics, which is based in Tarrytown, N.Y., fell 2 cents to close Tuesday at $6.04. Shares of New York-based Pfizer rose 2 cents to finish at $18.47.