The active ingredient of Fenoxypen® is phenoxymethylpenicillin, also known as penicillin V, an acid-stable derivative of benzylpenicillin which is a potent antibacterial agent, like other penicillins. It is an orally active antibiotic useful for the treatment of many types of bacterial infections. The compound has been extensively used since it was made in 1948 and it is listed as an “Essential Medicine” by the World Health Organization. It is still among the most commonly prescribed medication in the world, with more than two million prescriptions per year. Here, Fenoxypen® was recommended to treat ear, nose and throat (ENT) bacterial infections, broncho-pulmonary infections, urogenital infections and other chronic infections. It is a classical bacteriolytic β-lactam drug, effective to treat pharyngotonsillitis for example. This narrow-spectrum antibiotic (sometime considered as “a forgotten antibiotic”) was recommended for the treatment of most respiratory tract infections..
The originality of Fenoxypen® is the new formulation as sugar-coated tablets to facilitate oral absorption, and a rapid and efficient tissue distribution of the active ingredient.
Phenoxymethylpenicillin is also used in veterinary medicine in several countries in Europe (and outside Europe), notably to prevent necrotic enteritis in chicken due to infection with the bacteria Clostridium perfringens (a commensal organism found in the intestinal tract of poultry).
An atypical nest-like presentation of Fenoxypen® oral tablets, like small white eggs in a bird nest. The graphic idea was to underline the revival of a novel formulation of penicillin V, as sugar-coated tablets. A new life for an old drug. Egg-cellent!
