P&G's Asacol launched in UK for UC

The USA's Procter & Gamble Pharmaceuticals says that Asacol (mesalazine) 800mg Modified-Release tablets are now available in the UK for the treatment of mild-to-moderate acute exacerbations of ulcerative colitis and the maintenance of remission in UC and Crohn's ileo-colitis patients.

According to the firm, the ASCEND I and II trials showed that Asacol 800mg MR tablets at 4.8 g/day provide symptom relief 10 days faster (median time) than a 400mg tablet of UK drugmaker Shire's Mezavant (mesalazine, known as Lialda in the USA) at 2.4g/day for moderate UC. The new dose also provides a significant improvement in quality of life at three weeks as a mean change from baseline, P&G noted. "To have an effective treatment that reduces the time to symptom relief with no significant increase in side effects compared to the current standard dose is a significant clinical advance," said Simon Travis, consultant physician and gastroenterologist at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.