EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The maker of Sudafed is offering a new version of the cold and allergy medicine without an ingredient often used to produce the illegal and highly addictive drug methamphetamine in homemade labs.

Pseudophedrine will be replaced with another substance, phenylephrine, in a new product called Sudafed PE, which will become available Jan. 10 in the United States, Pfizer Inc. spokeswoman Erica Johnson said Wednesday. Pfizer will continue to offer the old Sudafed, too.

Johnson said the new formula will make it easier for consumers to buy the medication and could help curtail meth production.

In many states, pharmacists keep Sudafed and other cold medicines used to make meth behind a counter. Oklahoma requires that such medications be distributed by a pharmacist, a step also being considered in Indiana and other states hit hard by the drug epidemic.