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FDA approves Biovail’s dissolving pain drug

The FDA has approved Biovail Corporation's orally disintegrating analgesic tablet Tramadol ODT, for the treatment of moderate to moderately severe pain in adults.

In March, Biovail filed a complete response to address labeling issues raised in an approvable letter received in early January. The approval of Tramadol ODT (tramadol hydrochloride) is the first milestone in Biovail’s development of a franchise of pain medications.

A 2004 study of the US population concluded that nearly 40% of adults have experienced problems with swallowing tablets – and a significant proportion of those fail to comply properly with their prescribed and ongoing dosage. Conditions such as post-procedural pain with swelling, associated with swallowing impairment, that require acute analgesic treatment, will benefit from the immediate orally dissolving tablet form.

Biovail believes a considerable market opportunity exists for Tramadol ODT in the US analgesia market, where sales for the 12 months ended March 30, 2005 were $14.3 billion. Over the same period, tramadol-based products generated revenues of $463.3 million and 19.4 million prescriptions.