Glaxo Wellcome's Pylorid Launched In First Market

Glaxo Wellcome's Pylorid (ranitidine bismuth citrate) has now been launched in the UK, its first market, as a monotherapy for the treatment of peptic ulcer disease and in combination with amoxicillin or clarithromycin for the eradication of Helicobacter pylori and prevention of relapse of duodenal ulcer. Because of the bismuth component, Pylorid is not recommended for long-term or maintenance use.

The recommended dose of Pylorid, which is a New Chemical Entity and not simply a combination product, is 400mg twice-daily for four to eight weeks for duodenal ulcer and eight weeks for gastric ulcer. The dose of antibiotic given in combination with Pylorid, over two weeks in each case, is clarithromycin 1g-1.5g/day or amoxicillin 2g/day. 14 days' treatment with Pylorid 400mg will cost L26 ($40.30), so for the eradication regimen, the overall treatment cost in combination with clarithromycin 1g daily is L70.96.

Glaxo Wellcome believes that the combination of Pylorid with clarithromycin gives equivalent H pylori eradication rates to triple therapies with an antisecretory drug and two antibiotics. Eradication rates of between 82% and 94% have been achieved with the clarithromycin regimen, and rates of 40% to 60% have been seen with amoxicillin.