US FDA approves Aralez’s aspirin & omeprazole fixed dose combination
Aralez Pharmaceuticals Inc., a global specialty pharmaceutical company, announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved once-daily Yosprala, the only prescription fixed-dose combination of aspirin, an anti-platelet agent, and omeprazole, a proton pump inhibitor (PPI) in the US. Yosprala is indicated for patients who require aspirin for secondary prevention of cardiovascular (CV) and cerebrovascular events and who are at risk of developing aspirin associated gastric ulcers. The company is expanding its US sales force by 85 representatives in September to a total of 110 high quality sales representatives and plans to begin the US promotional launch of Yosprala the first week in October.
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Yosprala is designed to support both cardio- and gastro-protection for at-risk patients through the proprietary Intelli-COAT system, which is formulated to sequentially deliver immediate-release omeprazole (40 mg) followed by a delayed-release, enteric-coated aspirin core in either 81 mg or 325 mg dose strengths. The Yosprala immediate-release omeprazole is designed to elevate the gastric pH into a gastroprotective zone. The enteric-coated aspirin dissolves after the pH has been elevated to = 5.5, within the gastroprotective zone, thereby reducing stomach ulcer risk.