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Banned Medicine on Way back to Nation
Barred from the Chinese cold drug market for 10 months for containing a banned ingredient, Contac is set to re-enter the system, according to today's China Daily.
Tianjin-based SmithKline & French Laboratories, a Chinese unit of GlaxoSmithKline Plc, announced on Monday it will introduce a new version of its popular cold-treatment drug Contac in a bid to recover its loss.
The State Drug Administration in November last year barred the decongestant and appetite suppressant phenylpropanolamine, or PPA, from medication. It was used in Contac.
PPA has been associated with brain hemorrhages and bleeding strokes.
"The new Contac medicine, which replaces the PPA with PSE, a safe content recognized by home and foreign authorities, has passed market clearance in China recently," Tianjin SmithKline General Manager Yang Weiqiang.
"I am sure the new drug has the same, or even better, effect than the old Contac, which was popular among consumers because it worked, " he said.
The company has spent 145 million yuan (US$17.5 million) on the new formula since 1999, Yang said. Contac's ban created an opportunity for domestic and overseas drugmakers to compete and bolster their brand.
The Chinese cold medicine market is valued at about 10 billion yuan (US$1.2 billion) in annual sales. Contac, once the nation's top-selling cold-treatment drug, accounted for half the market.
Yang said the brand will be revived easily. A company survey claims 90 per cent of consumers want to try the new Contac.
The new product will cost more because the replacement for PPA is more expensive. A pack of Contac is expected to cost 13.5 yuan (US$1.63), a 10 per cent increase.
Before the ban, about 5 billion Contac capsules had been sold in China, the company said.
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