OTC versions of allergy drug coming |
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Mon, 31 Dec 2007 19:29
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TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - Allergy sufferers who take the popular prescription medication Zyrtec are getting several new options that don't require a prescription.On Monday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave approval for Ohm Laboratories Inc. of North Brunswick to sell generic versions of New York-based Pfizer Inc.'s Zyrtec. The antihistamine, which doesn't make takers sleepy, generated about $1.3 billion in annual sales but lost patent protection in late December.Ohm will sell the drug without a prescription under its chemical name, cetirizine hydrochloride, in five and 10 milligram doses. The medicine treats hives and allergy symptoms such as runny nose, sneezing and itching of the nose, throat and eyes.Ohm, which sells generic, private label and nonprescription medicines in this country, is a subsidiary of Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd., India's biggest drug company.Jim Meehan, Ohm's vice president of sales and distribution, said the products will be launched immediately.Last Friday, FDA approved two other companies to sell cetirizine hydrochloride as a generic, over-the-counter drug, also in five and 10 milligram doses. They are Caraco Pharmaceutical Laboratories Ltd. of Detroit and Perrigo Co. of Allegan, Mich. Perigo will sell the products under store-brand labels.McNeil Consumer Healthcare, a unit of New Brunswick-based Johnson & Johnson, said in November it had won approval to start selling brand-name Zyrtec over the counter this January. It acquired the 'switch rights' to sell a nonprescription version of Zyrtec as part of its $16.6 billion purchase of Pfizer's consumer healthcare business at the end of 2006.Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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CORRECTION Sanofi-Aventis, UCB launch allergy drug Xyzal in US 