Zephrex-D: New Meth-Busting Decongestant in St. Louis Pharmacies in November

Zephrex-D, a new decongestant that its manufacturer and St. Louis area drug agents say cannot be converted into methamphetamine, is set to hit St. Louis pharmacies this month.

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As previously reported by Patch, Zephrex D is expected to be available in St. Louis area pharmacies in November. Since its maker and drug agents say it cannot be converted into meth, it will also be sold without a prescription in some counties that have recently passed ordinances requiring a prescription to purchase pseudoephedrine products like Claritin-D and Allegra-D.

Zephrex-D is manufactured by Maryland Heights-based Highland Pharmaceuticals. Westport Pharmaceuticals is a subsidiary of Highland. Paul Hemings, with Westport Pharmaceuticals, isn't giving specifics yet, but tells Patch that the drug will soon be shipping to area pharmacies.

"We have major retailers lined up. We have purchase orders in the system. We will be shipping early November and the product will be on retailer shelves no later than mid November," Hemings tells Patch.

Zephrex-D will only be available in the St. Louis market when it comes out this month. Hemings said it will be available in a number of counties, including St. Louis, St. Charles and Jefferson counties. 

St. Louis is the test market for Zephrex-D for two reasons: because Highland Pharmaceuticals is headquartered here and because Missouri has the largest meth problem in the U.S and is considered 'Meth Capitol U.S.A.'"

"The primary reason is, this is meth central," Hemings said.

As it stands today, Zephrex-D will be behind the pharmacy counter because of how all pseudoephedrine products are regulated. They are required to be behind the pharmacy counter, require and ID to purchase them and there is a limit to how much can be purchased at a time. Hemings said that is all regulated by federal law.

"Until we change something at the federal level. Those will all remain behind the counter," Hemings said.

Some Missouri cities and counties also require a prescription to purchase all drugs containing pseudoephedrine. However, Hemings said Westport Pharmaceuticals has applied for exemptions to those rules in Franklin and St. Charles counties, where county-wide ordinances are in place, and they have been granted the exemptions. Therefore, shoppers will not need prescriptions in those two counties.

"In Frankin and St. Charles counties, we are the only pseudoephedrine product that I know of today that can be purchased without a prescription," Hemings said.

St. Louis County does not have a prescription requirement, but many cities have passed such requirements. Westport has not applied for exemptions yet to cities within St. Louis County that have the prescription requirements, but the company plans to address cities once Zephrex-D is in pharmacies. This includes Manchester. 

"We are consumed by getting this to market, but we will absolutely take the time to deal with the cities who have passed the pseudoephedron laws. It's just a matter of time," Hemings tells Patch. "It really is a workload matter right now."

He added that the "simple solution" would be for St. Louis County to pass an ordinance.

"It would save all these cities from doing a tremendous amount of work," Hemings said. 

It would also require only applying to the county for an exemption instead of each individual city so the drug can be sold without a prescription. Hemings is not sure how long it will take for future exemption requests to be granted.

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Part 2: Is Meth Moving Into Your Neighborhood?