Word: acidic
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Relief from heartburn has been provided for more than a century by antacids that include such familiar brands as Tums, Rolaids, Maalox and Mylanta, products that annually rack up sales approaching $1 billion in the U.S. alone. These antacids, which bring relief within minutes, work by neutralizing the stomach acid that causes heartburn. But because the stomach continues to produce acid, they remain effective for only a few hours...
...spurred by the expiration of patent rights on the acid blockers and growing competition from lower-priced generic drugs, the pharmaceutical firms are seeking and winning approval from the Food and Drug Administration for over-the-counter sales of somewhat milder versions of the blockers. At stake as the companies tout these products, say industry analysts, is an additional $1 billion in sales for heartburn medications. "This is a blockbuster," says Paul Kelly, president of Silvermine Consulting Group, in Westport, Connecticut. "It's the most dramatic medical launch since Advil." Two acid blockers, Tagamet HB and Pepcid AC, have begun...
Introduced in the U.S. by SmithKline Beecham in 1977 and under patent protection for 17 years, Tagamet was the pioneer acid blocker. Worldwide it has earned the company a total of $14 billion and was the first drug ever to chalk up $1 billion in sales in a single year. But in the late 1980s, anticipating the worst when its Tagamet patent ran out in 1994, SmithKline began conducting clinical trials and seeking FDA approval of an over-the-counter version. The wisdom of that decision became evident when Tagamet sales plummeted from $600 million in 1993 to only...
...share of the entire antacid market. "Pepcid had a window of opportunity, and it exploited it well in the marketplace," says Silvermine Consulting's Kelly. "That's an amazing accomplishment." Amazing, and expensive. J&J/Merck and SmithKline are each spending some $100 million in marketing campaigns for their new acid blockers...
...Pepcid's quick strike, Tagamet's ambitious counterattack and the row over advertising may look like mere skirmishes when Zantac 75 enters the fray. This acid blocker is the over-the-counter version of Zantac, the top-selling prescription drug in the world and the pride of Britain's Glaxo-Wellcome pharmaceutical stable. Prescribed for 240 million patients around the globe, Zantac last year generated $3.6 billion in sales, $2.1 billion in the U.S. And last month the over-the-counter Zantac 75 received a recommendation from an FDA advisory committee, virtually assuring its imminent approval for sale...