S-P's Aeris less side effects than Xyzal

US drug major Schering-Plough says that patients taking Aerius (desloratadine) are less likely to experience drowsiness and sedation within one month of treatment than patients on Xyzal (levocetirizine dihydrochloride), a rival anti-histamine co-promoted in the USA by Belgium's UCB and French drug major Sanofi-Aventis.

According to the data published in the October issue of Drug Safety, it was found that, among allergic rhinitis, which affects nearly 94 million Europeans each year, the incidence of drowsiness/sedation alone or in combination with other sedating events was more than six times greater in patients using Xyzal than those treated with Aerius.

The observational study utilized the Prescription Event Monitoring system conducted by Drug Safety Research Unit and compared the incidence of drowsiness and sedation within the first 30 days of observation among more than 24,000 patients in the UK treated with either Aerius or Xyzal.