ReportersNotebook — Over the Counter, 11/19/12

SUPPLIER NEWS — Acura Pharmaceuticals in December will launch an immediate-release pseudoephedrine tablet under the brand name Nexafed that will help impede conversion of the tablets into methamphetamine. Couched as the “next generation pseudoephedrine product,” Nexafed is a 30 mg PSE hydrochloride tablet that utilizes Acura’s trademarked Impede technology. 


When using the “shake-and-bake” or “one-pot” method, the Impede technology yields approximately half as much methamphetamine as compared with a traditional PSE product — or 38% of the maximum possible pure methamphetamine out of each tablet — and consequently makes use of the cold medicine by “meth cooks” less profitable.


For other methods of baking meth out of PSE tablets, which require isolating the pseudoephedrine from the cold tablets, the Impede technology yields no usable pseudoephedrine. 


“This is a high-recommendation category,” noted Acura CEO Bob Jones. “When the pharmacist gets behind a product like Nexafed … that message will translate into product sales.”


Eventually, Acura plans to file with the Drug Enforcement Agency for an exemption from the requirement that PSE products be sold behind the pharmacy counter. That would place a PSE product back on store shelves for the first time in seven years. Launching now will help Acura build a case of real-life positive outcomes, Jones told DSN.