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Drugs: don't be fooled by gimmicks

Pharmaceutical firms are reduced to promoting gimmicky drug formats that offer no additional patient benefits.

Presenting a drug in a pharmaceutical form that makes it easier for patients to use sometimes constitutes a patient benefit. But some forms can be mere gimmicks, as is highlighted in the October issue of la revue Prescrire.

Such is the case of oral lyophilisates containing extract of pollen from Timothy grass (Phleum pratense) (Grazax°), used for allergy desensitisation therapy, usually administered by injection. But the effectiveness of this pollen extract is very limited, and its benefits are outweighed by frequent adverse effects, the seriousness of which has not been fully identified. The same applies to rotigotine patches for patients suffering from Parkinson’s disease, who are more accustomed to oral treatments. But rotigotine tends to be less effective than the oral treatments for Parkinson’s disease with which it has been compared, and the patches cause additional adverse effects. Another example is zanamivir inhalation powder, now indicated as an influenza treatment in young children. But zanamivir still has no proven benefits in those most vulnerable to influenza, and powder inhalers like the one supplied with the product are not suitable for use by very young children.

Pharmaceutical firms are promoting gimmicks to mask their drugs’ lack of effectiveness or adverse effects; and the regulatory agencies are letting them get away with it instead of insisting on genuine improvements that benefit patients.

©Prescrire 1 November 2007

Source: "Gadgets" Rev Prescrire 2007; 27 (288): 724.

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