Valtrex Launched In Sweden; Genital Herpes Data

Wellcome's antiviral Valtrex (valaciclovir) has now been launched in its third market, Sweden, after the UK and Ireland (Marketletter February 6). The company announced the registration at the 7th European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases in Vienna, Austria. The drug is approved in all three countries for the treatment of shingles.

In addition, Valtrex has been approved for shingles in France and the company is awaiting pricing confirmation before it can be launched. Applications for approval have been made in a further 80 countries, including the USA. Valaciclovir is the valine ester of aciclovir (Wellcome's Zovirax), acting as a prodrug which improves the dosing and bioavailability of the active component.

Martin Wood, consultant physician in the department of infectious and tropical diseases at Birmingham Heartlands Hospital in the UK, told the meeting that the primary advantage of Valtrex over aciclovir is its superiority in reducing the pain associated with shingles. The drug has been shown to stop zoster-associated pain (including post-herpetic neuralgia) 34% faster than oral aciclovir and to reduce the number of patients with pain at six months by 23% compared with aciclovir.