Perhaps a small matter, but I wonder whether an over the counter consumer should really care whether the product benefits from "dual ingredient" patents.
Afterall, the patent simply means no one else does it -- not that it relieves heartburn more effectively (or at all!), compared to the competitors' presumably non-patented formulations.
Yet, the headline of the press release, out of Whitehouse Station overnight blares "only patented dual relief" is available from Zegerid OTCTM, and the body offers this:
. . . .Zegerid OTCTM has a patented dual-ingredient formula that combines omeprazole, the leading prescription acid-reducing medicine, and sodium bicarbonate, which protects the omeprazole in this product from acid in the stomach and allows it to be absorbed. . . .
What this all boils down to is that other brands use enteric coating -- while Zegerid's formulation obviates that coating. Not a huge deal.
Of course, there is no data -- and thus no claim by Merck -- that would suggest the enteric coating is in any way a disadvantage, in the competitors' products.
I guess Consumer OTC Health is more like selling floor wax, than actual medicines.
नमस्ते
