TAP shares Prevacid rights: Novartis to produce, market version for over-the-counter sales.

Publication: Chicago Tribune (Chicago, Illinois) (via Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News)

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COPYRIGHT 2005 Chicago Tribune

Byline: Bruce Japsen, Chicago Tribune

Dec. 21--By the end of the decade, consumers should have another prescription-strength option to treating heartburn that won't burn a hole in their wallets.

TAP Pharmaceutical Products Inc. has agreed to license rights to its blockbuster heartburn drug Prevacid to health-care giant Novartis AG, which plans to launch an over-the-counter pill once the patent on TAP's prescription version expires in 2009.

That is expected to be good news for millions of heartburn sufferers who may be looking for a cheaper and similarly effective option to expensive brand-name drugs like prescription-strength Prevacid and Nexium, which cost about $4 a pill on average at retail. An over-the-counter version is expected to cost less...

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