E-drug: Re: Evergreening of patents (cont)
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Hello,
A small correction on the information in the article below. The potency of
esomeprazole is higher than omeprazole: 40mg esomeprazole vs 20mg omeprazole
is closer to quadruple the dose, not double as the author claims, and the
20mg vs 20mg study was not a fair comparison of equal doses (in spite of the
disappointing results for the company). This is well-documented in the
pharmacokinetic literature on esomeprazole as well as in the FDA's review,
posted on their website. Another point is that both omeprazole (the two
isomers) and esomeprazole (the single isomer) are metabolized into the same
active non-chimeric substance. It would be biologically implausible to
expect a difference between these two separately patented drugs. The
patenting issue is one side of this story, but another is the ability of the
company's advertising campaigns to dupe both physicians in many countries
and the US public into believing that this is a newer, better drug.
Barbara Mintzes
Centre for Health Services and Policy Research
University of British Columbia
Vancouver, BC Canada
bmintzes@chspr.ubc.ca
[Thanks Barbara, I did not check the data presented that closely before
posting. Embarrassing since I am a drug info person! KM]
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