Glaxo Sues Firm Over Use of ‘Nico’ in Name

What’s in a prefix? A lot, according to GlaxoSmithKline.

The British drug company, maker of NicoDerm CQ patches and Nicorette gum, is suing a Southern California company for using the prefix “nico” in the name of its smoking-cessation product.

GlaxoSmithKline alleges that La Mesa, Calif.-based Nicodrops Inc. deliberately chose the “deceptively similar” name to fool customers into thinking its product, an herbal lozenge, could help people quit smoking.

“Because they don’t provide any proof their product works, they should discontinue making that claim,” said spokeswoman Malesia Dunn.

Nicodrops’ website says the product -- which contains ginseng, St. John’s wort and valerian but no nicotine -- offers a faster, tasty way to control the cravings that come with nicotine withdrawal.

Spokesman David Donlin said the company stood “100% behind the product and their claims.”

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in federal court in Pittsburgh, refers to the lozenge as snake oil and contends that sales of Nicodrops have caused GlaxoSmithKline “irreparable damage in the smoking-cessation market.” The suit asks that Nicodrops be ordered to hand over profit from the sale of its product and seeks unspecified damages.

GlaxoSmithKline’s products, which contain nicotine, are designed to help smokers kick the habit by gradually reducing their nicotine intake, thereby diminishing their dependence on the drug. The products are approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

Nicodrops developed its lozenge in 1993 and tweaked it during 11 years of consumer trials, Donlin said. The company said it recently inked a deal with pharmacy chain CVS Corp. to sell Nicodrops in 4,000 stores.

The nicotine products “all double your chances of quitting,” said smoking-cessation expert John Hughes, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Vermont College of Medicine. As for products such as Nicodrops, “I’m not saying they don’t work, but I haven’t seen a study” of an herbal treatment.