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TORONTO — Apotex Inc. has introduced Apo-Esomeprazole, a treatment for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), in Canada.
The pharmaceutical company said Tuesday that the gastric proton pump inhibitor (PPI) product is a generic version of AstraZeneca’s Nexium acid reducer
With initial launches in the provinces of Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Ontario, Apo-Esomeprazole has now been released to the rest of the Canadian market. Apotex reported that the branded product costs public and private health care budgets close to $300 million (Canadian) per year.
Apotex said it’s the only generic drug company to have successfully litigated the Nexium patents, bringing the first generic alternative to market eight years prior to all patents expiring. The company added that it has led the legal charge to "genericize" four out of five major products in the class of gastric PPI molecules, including omeprazole, pantoprazole, lansoprazole and now esomeprazole.
Apotex said these legal efforts are estimated to deliver a cumulative savings of $6.5 billion to Canada’s health care system.
"Generic litigant frontrunners such as Apotex play a critical role in maintaining affordability of our health care system. Apo-Esomeprazole is yet another example of our commitment to provide patients with affordable, high-quality medicines, despite the potential risks and consequences we often face in bringing these new generic products to market," Jack Kay, Apotex’s president, said in a statement.
