Content about Loratadine

The January/February 2013 Vitamins & Supplements Ingredient Guide breaks down the indication, ingredients, purpose and dosage of Centrum, One-A-Day, NatureMade, VitaFusion, Alive, VirMax-T, MoveFree, Bioglan and Voots products.

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The November/December 2012 Cough, Cold and Flu Ingredient Guide breaks down the indication, ingredients, purpose and dosage of Mucinex, Vicks, Advil, Theraflu, Delsym, St. Joseph, Hyland's Similasan and Zicam products.

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The July/August 2012 Pain Relief Ingredient Guide breaks down the indication, ingredients, purpose and dosage of Aleve, Advil, Bayer Advanced, Perform, Absorbine, Salonpas, Hyland's Leg Cramps ointment, Arnicare and BenGay Cold Therapy.

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The May/June 2012 Skin/Itch Relief Ingredient Guide breaks down the indication, ingredients, purpose and dosage of Bio-Oil, AmLactin, Cetaphil Daily Advance, Zim's Crack Creme, Olay Advanced Healing, Curel Itch Defense, Benadryl Itch Relief Spray, Cortizone 10 and Neopsporin Eczema Essentials.

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Clarinex (desloratadine), the next-generation prescription allergy remedy to the second-generation Claritin, is 1-of-3 blockbuster prescription medicines that may make the crossover from prescription-only to over-the-counter in the near future. If so, the medicine may take the podium as one of the four best-selling allergy brands — Zyrtec and Claritin currently top that list, with Allegra, launched last year, beating out all other cough-cold and allergy tablet brands with more than $220 million in sales through December.


ALLEGAN, Mich. — Perrigo last week announced that it has received final Food and Drug Administration approval for its generic prescription allergy remedy desloratadine 5 mg, the generic equivalent to Schering-Plough's Clarinex.

Under the terms of a patent-infringement suit settlement, Perrigo can commercially launch its generic desloratadine product July 1. The new product launch may be a prescription or over-the-counter product, depending on its status at the time of launch, Perrigo stated.

In the year leading up to the switch of Allegra, Sanofi generated $214.2 million in U.S. prescription sales of Allegra, largely due to the generic competition against its Allegra D formulation. Now Sanofi is looking to virtually match those annual sales figures within the much more profitable nonprescription venue with the company’s successful switch from prescription to OTC this spring. 


Customers are seeing purple again — reminiscent of another switch that took advantage of the eye-catching color purple. Sanofi-Aventis through its Chattem division in March launched Allegra, the last of the second-generation antihistamines. And purple-powered displays, like this in a Walmart in Lancaster, Pa., dotted the retail pharmacy landscape.


NEW YORK — An over-the-counter version of the antihistamine Allegra hit the marketplace amid a promotional frenzy that was consistent with the approach taken when such similar products as Claritin and Zyrtec became available without a prescription. As was the case with other products before it, retailers are eager to get their share of sales, so there tends to be considerable activity around the launch.

PARIS — Allegra is less than a week away from reaching shelves on March 4, and with the latest allergy switch will come a significant number of Rx allergy sufferers this summer.


WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT — Though Schering-Plough’s — now Merck’s — Claritin and Johnson & Johnson’s Zyrtec product lines have dominated the over-the-counter antihistamine market, the big share of the prescription antihistamine market held by Sanofi-Aventis’ Allegra (fexofenadine hydrochloride) could give it a battering ram to bust in as well, thanks to the big break Sanofi got in the form of a Food and Drug Administration approval of an OTC switch for the drug.