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AstraZeneca faces suit from AFL-CIO, Boston-based consumer advocate.
Byline: Christopher Rowland
Oct. 19--The AFL-CIO and a Boston-based consumer advocacy group sued AstraZeneca yesterday, accusing the drug manufacturer of deceptively selling doctors and patients on the idea that Nexium, the nation's most heavily advertised prescription drug, is an improved purple pill.
The lawsuit filed in Los Angeles alleges that when AstraZeneca faced expiration of its patent on Prilosec in 2001, it launched a concerted effort to protect its anti-heartburn prescription franchise by dressing up the old drug with a new name.
In reality, the suit says, Americans who buy Nexium are getting virtually the same drug as Prilosec, just in a higher dose. AstraZeneca reported $3.3 billion in Nexium sales in 2003, driven by what TNS Media Intelligence/CMR has tracked as $250 million worth of TV and magazine ads annually.
"They flooded doctors' offices with Nexium information and they told doctors it was more powerful. They gave them tons of free samples," said Steve Berman, a lead attorney in the case, which is also being launched in Massachusetts. "They priced the drug below the cost of Prilosec at that point in time, and once people got hooked, they raised the price."
- FDA's Safety Reviews of Prilosec and Nexium Find No Evidence of Increased Rates...
- Press release article from: M2 Presswire December 10, 2007 700+ words
...FDA's Safety Reviews of Prilosec and Nexium Find No Evidence of Increased...were being treated with either Prilosec or Nexium. The studies were designed...drugs. About Prilosec and Nexium Prilosec and Nexium are members of a...
- Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Now Covers Prilosec(R) OTC - Switching from...
- Press release article from: PR Newswire September 5, 2007 700+ words
...or the generic version of Prilosec from Nexium will pay nothing for the...using Prilosec OTC or generic Prilosec instead of Nexium. The savings are calculated...patients make the switch from Nexium to Prilosec which should save them and...
- Klemtner adds new Nexium to roster of meds; Shop's success with Prilosec...
- Magazine article from: Advertising Age Goetzl, David Linnett, Richard July 31, 2000 700+ words
...creative account for Nexium, the successor drug...heartburn treatment Prilosec. Klemtner currently...AstraZeneca stated Nexium has outperformed Prilosec in tests, but some...including whether Prilosec and Nexium ads might run simultaneously...
- Profits down at AstraZeneca as Prilosec sales plummet, but Nexium turnover...
- Newspaper article from: Pharma Marketletter May 5, 2003 700+ words
...performance from the follow-up to Prilosec, Nexium (esomeprazole), helped...a 136% increase in total Nexium sales to $835 million. Prilosec turnover slumped 60% in the...market to $287 million, while Nexium sales rocketed 135% to...
- Nexium will get brilliant shade: Prilosec purple; Color strategy moving from...
- Magazine article from: Advertising Age Goetzl, David September 25, 2000 700+ words
...purple, to its successor drug Nexium. Prilosec has been a blockbuster, in...AstraZeneca wants to switch Prilosec users to Nexium. The marketer also wants...entire patient base over to Nexium from Prilosec because there's too much...
- The Food and Drug Administration is reviewing the potential risk for hip...
- Magazine article from: McKnight's Long-Term Care News January 1, 2008 700+ words
The Food and Drug Administration is reviewing the potential risk for hip fractures associated with the best-selling heartburn drugs Prilosec and Nexium. Meanwhile, the agency cleared the AstraZeneca Plc drugs of links to heart problems.
- Nexium in pharmacies, Prilosec in court.(AstraZeneca patented products)(Brief...
- Magazine article from: Medical Marketing & Media April 1, 2001 700+ words
...AstraZeneca claims that generic Prilosec would infringe six different patents. Nexium pills, the planned successor...purple theme associated with Prilosec. The company says Nexium is a better alternative to Prilosec in that it treats patients...
- Nexium/Prilosec under review in Canada and USA after being linked to cardiac...
- Newspaper article from: Pharma Marketletter August 20, 2007 700+ words
...AstraZeneca's off-patent Losec/Prilosec (omeprazole) and its follow-on drug Nexium (esomeprazole). The two prescription...The results from a trial of Prilosec and analyses from an ongoing study of Nexium linked the proton pump inhibitors...