AstraZeneca launches Losec follow-up Nexium in the UK

AstraZeneca has formally launched its new-generation proton pumpinhibitor Nexium (esomeprazole), a successor to its bestseller Losec (omeprazole), in the UK. Nexium went on sale in its first European market, Sweden, last month (Marketletter August 7).

Nexium is a key product for AstraZeneca, which hopes to switch patients to the product from Losec, the world's leading gastrointestinal drug and best-selling prescription medicine, which is facing generic competition in several key markets (Marketletters passim). Sales of Losec in the first half of the year were $2.97 billion, a rise of 7% over the same period of 1999. AstraZeneca told Reuters that it had already received L1.3 million ($1.8 million) in wholesale orders for Nexium at launch, which is a record for any new drug introduced by the firm.

The new product will be sold in the UK at the same price as Losec, with a 40mg dose (the recommended starting dose for new users) costing L28.56 ($43.15) per pack of 28 tablets, the same as the most commonly-used 20mg dose of Losec. A 28-day, 20mg pack of Nexium will cost L18.50. In Sweden, the new drug was introduced with a price slightly below that of Losec to take into account the prices of competing GI drugs.