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CAMBRIDGE, Mass. & NEW YORK — Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Forest Laboratories Inc. have released Linzess, a medication for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), to U.S. pharmacies.
The pharmaceutical companies said Monday that Linzess (linaclotide) is the first and only Food and Drug Administration-approved guanylate cyclase-C (GC-C) agonist and acts locally in the intestine.
Linzess is a once-daily oral capsule for adults suffering from IBS with constipation (IBS-C) or chronic idiopathic constipation (CIC).
Ironwood and Forest noted that with the rollout of Linzess, for the first time in over six years a new prescription option is available for adults with those disorders. The two companies said they are co-promoting Linzess in the United States.
IBS with constipation is a chronic functional gastrointestinal disorder that affects as many as 13 million people in the United States, the companies reported. Chronic idiopathic constipation is a functional gastrointestinal disorder in which individuals experience infrequent bowel movements (less than three times per week) for at least three months, and as many as 35 million Americans may suffer from symptoms associated with CIC.
