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New form of pain-relief medicine introduced by Lek on the Slovene OTC market a welcome advance for customers
Lekadol® direct – the first over-the-counter pain-relief medicine of its kind in Slovenia
11.11.2004 | Ljubljana, November 11 – At today’s press conference Lek, a new Sandoz company, presented Lekadol® direct, a new form of over-the-counter pain-relief medicine. The new form, a so-called orodispersible, dissolves quickly in the mouth without the use of fluids or chewing. Owing to these qualities it is a welcome advance on the Slovene pain-reliever market. Lekadol® direct is especially suitable for people who have difficulty swallowing normal tablets, while traveling or at times when there are no liquids present, and is already available in Slovene pharmacies.
 Lekadol® direct contains the same amount of the active ingredient paracetamol as Lekadol® normal and film-coated tablets, and thus maintains all of the properties offered by the previous forms of tablets in this Lek family: effective on mild to moderately strong pain, does not irritate the stomach, does not contain sugar.
“In addition, Lekadol® direct tablets have a pleasant fruity taste, and are packaged so that it is easy to remove one or two tablets and are therefore more convenient, so that people can carry them at all times,” said Lekadol® Brand Manager Irena Lukančič. The technology used to manufacture Lekadol® direct is called Flashtab® technology (developed by French company Ethypharm). Lek purchased the technology and brought it to Slovenia, so that Lekadol® direct tablets are manufactured at Lek’s facility in Ljubljana. The basic technology is the coating of individual particles of the active ingredient paracetamol. The individual coated particles are then formed into a tablet using additional substances, and a so-called disintegrator is also added which causes the tablet to disintegrate when it comes into contact with saliva or a liquid.  Lekadol® direct is an over-the-counter medicine which Lek markets under the Lekadol® brand; tablets under this brand have been available in Slovenia since 1992.
In 2000 Lek launched Lekadol® plus C, the result of in-house development, onto the Slovene market. This medicine, which is made in granulate form for the preparation of hot drinks when having cold and flu, combines the safety and effectiveness of Lekadol® with the strength of vitamin C. Lek launched the next advance in the Lekadol® family in November 2003, film-coated tablets, which are more user-friendly. The film coating covers the bitter taste of the paracetamol, and the elongated form of the tablets makes them easier to swallow. Today the Lekadol® brand is the no. 1 over-the-counter analgesic (pain-relief medicine) in Slovenia, with a 42-percent market share. Ana Pavlovčič, Marketing and Sales Area Director for Slovenia and Southeast Europe in Lek’s OTC department, talked about the over-the counter market in Slovenia. She said that the use of over-the-counter medicines in Slovenia is among the lowest in comparison with other European countries. Consumption is lower only in Slovakia, the Russian Federation and Romania. The highest consumption of OTC medicines is in Switzerland, where the level of consumption of over-the-counter drugs is nearly nine times that of Slovenia. The benefits of the development of the OTC market for various stakeholders are as follows: for insurance companies it means lowered costs due to the lower share of prescription drugs and compensation for sick leave; for doctors it means increased quality of patient service and savings on prescriptions; for pharmacists it means an increased professional role and responsibility for consultation and an increased role in the treatment of less serious illnesses; for patients it means time savings, less loss of work time, and a better level of education and increased responsibility for their own health; for manufacturers it means increased opportunities for market investments in the field of education and of course decisions to launch new products, especially more user-friendly pharmaceutical forms. “We see our role in developing the OTC market not just in developing and delivering high-quality medicines intended for self-medication, but also in providing information about the drugs to both the professional and lay public. In order to use the drugs responsibly and safely, patients need the greatest possible amount of information. Informing customers about the symptoms of various diseases and providing advice on what to do are key for the shortest possible and most successful treatment. Providing knowledge in this field allows people to care for their health with confidence. We seek advice and explanations mainly from doctors and pharmacists. We also try to provide quality information to representatives of the pharmaceuticals industry,” added Pavlovčič. To this end, in March 2003 Lek began to publish a free magazine, ‘Let’s Take Care of Our Health’, intended for the lay public. The magazine is topical, with the main theme of each issue oriented to the current season. Health-care professionals from the given field participate in the production of each issue. Up to 5 issues are published per year. At present we have over 14,000 subscribers, and the magazine is also available at pharmacies and health-care centers throughout Slovenia. Customers can also obtain free advice about Lek over-the-counter medicines over a toll-free advice line, available every workday from Monday to Friday from 12:00 to 2:00 p.m. at tel. 080 2334. We also publish a professional journal called Health Bulletin for pharmacists. With the help of health-care professionals in individual fields we publish professional articles which offer pharmacists a source of information on current topics and trends in the field of self-treatment. The Bulletin is intended as an aid to the provision of quality information for people who come into pharmacies seeking advice on how to care for their health. Up to 5 issues are published per year.
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Lek, a new Sandoz company, is an international pharmaceutical company which operates as a business center on the markets of Central and Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe and the CIS region, and also markets its products successfully on the US market, in the EU and elsewhere around the world. Lek creates value through the development, manufacturing and sales of pharmaceutical products, active pharmaceutical ingredients and biopharmaceutical products. The Lek Group employs about 3850 people in various regions and achieved total sales of USD 694 million in 2003. For further information please consult http://www.lek.si. Sandoz, a Novartis company, is a world leader in generic pharmaceuticals and develops, manufactures and markets these medicines as well as pharmaceutical and biotechnological active ingredients. Decades of experience and profound know-how make Sandoz a renowned partner in the Pharmaceuticals, Biopharmaceuticals and Industrial Products Franchises. Altogether, Sandoz employs approximately 13,000 people worldwide and posted sales of USD 2.9 billion in 2003. Novartis AG (NYSE: NVS) is a world leader in pharmaceuticals and consumer health. In 2003, the Group’s business achieved sales of USD 24.9 billion and a net income of USD 5.0 billion. The Group invested approximately USD 3.8 billion in R&D. Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Novartis Group companies employ about 78 500 people and operate in over 140 countries around the world. For further information, please consult http://www.novartis.com
- end - This press release contains certain “forward-looking statements and conclusions” based on projections of Lek's future business operations. These estimates are derived from the best information currently available. In case these forecasts prove unreliable, the actual results could prove different from those projected.
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For further information contact:
Katarina Klemenc Dinjaški
Corporate Communications
Lek Pharmaceuticals d.d.
Phone: + 386 1 580 22 43
Fax: + 386 1 580 24 32
corporate.communications@lek.si
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