Zantac Wins Preliminary FDA Approval: The prescription...
<i> Times Wire Services</i>
Zantac Wins Preliminary FDA Approval: The prescription ulcer drug Zantac can be sold over-the-counter as a medicine for heartburn and acid indigestion, two advisory committees of the Food and Drug Administration recommended Thursday. The decision, if accepted by the FDA, would make Zantac the third in a new class of powerful drugs that claim all-day relief. The FDA often accepts recommendations of its advisory panels.
Zantac, made by the British drug company Glaxo Wellcome, would join Merck & Co.’s Pepcid and SmithKline Beecham’s Tagamet as the first drugs in a class called H2 blockers to go over-the-counter. Pepcid is already on the market and Tagamet is expected this fall.
