FDA green lights Astra's arthritis pill

4th May 2010 07:50

Anglo-Swedish drugs giant AstraZeneca said the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved VIMOVO, the pain relief pill for arthritis sufferers.VIMOVO, which was co-developed by Pozen and Astra, is a fixed-dose combination of delayed-release enteric-coated naproxen, a pain-relieving non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), and immediate-release esomeprazole, a proton pump inhibitor (PPI).The treatment is meant for the relief of signs and symptoms of osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and ankylosing spondylitis, and to decrease the risk of patients developing NSAID-associated gastric ulcers.Twenty-seven million Americans are affected by osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis, Astra's statement said. Around half of chronic NSAID users are at risk of developing gastrointestinal ulcers, the company maintains.