מתוך medicontext.co.il
LONDON (Reuters) – AstraZeneca's new ulcer drug esomeprazole (Nexium), designed to replace best-seller omeprazole (Losec), was boosted on Monday by new clinical trial data showing superiority over a key rival.
An 8-week head-to-head study found 40 mg of esomeprazole produced healing rates of 92.6%, while 30 mg of TAP's lansoprazole (Prevacid) managed 88.8%. TAP is a joint venture between Abbott Laboratories and Takeda Chemical Industries.
A significant difference between the two drugs in treating erosive oesophagitis was also noted after 4 weeks of treatment.
The comparison between esomeprazole and lansoprazole had been keenly awaited, following the high-profile launch of AstraZeneca's product in Europe last year and the US in March 2001.
An abstract of the study was published on the Web site of the United European Gastroenterology Federation, www.uegf.org, ahead of its conference in Amsterdam, scheduled for October 6-10.
US researchers said the rate of healing demonstrated by esomeprazole was "significantly higher."
The multicenter study included 5,241 adults with endoscopically verified erosive oesophagitis who received once-daily esomeprazole 40 mg or lansoprazole 30 mg for up to 8 weeks. In addition to finding significant differences between the two drugs at 4 and 8 weeks, the researchers noted that esomeprazole recipients had a "more consistent treatment response across all grades." They added that esomeprazole provided "better and significantly faster symptom resolution" than did lansoprazole.
AstraZeneca is expected to use the trial results in promotional material as its sales representatives slug it out in the highly competitive market for proton pump inhibitor (PPI) anti-ulcer drugs.
A spokesman for the Anglo-Swedish company declined to comment on the data ahead of the official presentation in Amsterdam next week.
Nexium is one of four potential blockbusters that AstraZeneca plans to roll out to plug a sales gap left by Losec, sold as Prilosec in the US, which is now facing generic competition.
With global sales of $6.3 billion in 2000, Losec is the world's top-selling prescription medicine and has been the gold standard for ulcer treatment. Now, AstraZeneca is keen to prove that Nexium is even more effective.
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