HEALTH CARE

Maker Sees Big Things for Over-the-Counter Tagamet: SmithKline expects to have Tagamet HB in drugstores by late August, said Jack Ziegler, the North American president of SmithKline Beecham Consumer Health Care. Tagamet, a widely prescribed anti-ulcer remedy, received approval from the Food and Drug Administration this week as a non-prescription heartburn and acid-indigestion drug. The British company faces a huge marketing battle with a joint venture of Merck & Co. and Johnson & Johnson, whose Pepcid AC hit drugstores a couple of weeks ago. Ziegler said that even in the first year, SmithKline expects Tagamet sales to reach $100 million, outpacing Pepcid despite the rival drug’s head start. Ziegler said the antacid market is about $900 million a year.