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An ulcer drug which treats osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration in the US.
Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca, which will license Vimovo from Pozen, said the new medication will be used on patients at risk of developing ulcers because they are using non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs.
Vimovo combines naproxen, a regular painkiller, and esomeprazole magnesium, the active ingredient in Nexium, a drug used to treat heartburn.
Both firms said around half of all patients who used non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs on a regular basis develop gastrointestinal ulcers.
Copyright Press Association 2010
Food and Drug Administration
