Three’s not a crowd: Top antacids hold their own


Good things come in three — like the three antacids that for the 52 weeks ended April 17 collectively generated more than $118 million in sales on top of the sales base they had established in the year-ago period.


Only two of those antacids were proton-pump inhibitors — Novartis’ Prevacid 24HR and Merck’s Zegerid OTC. Both are relatively new to the shelf, and neither are yet facing the volume of generic competition like Procter & Gamble’s PPI Prilosec OTC, which incidentally is still the best-selling antacid on the market by a more-than-$150-million margin in annual sales. The third antacid that still demands its fair share of heartburn relief is the venerable Tums — sales are up 198.4% to $51.7 million across food, drug and mass (excluding Walmart) for those 52 weeks ended April 17, according to SymphonyIRI Group data. 


Throw Boehringer-Ingelheim’s Zantac 150 into that lineup, which didn’t lose all that many annual sales as it is down less than 0.1% with $72.3 million in sales despite competition from two new switch products, and the question asked by Drug Store News last year has been answered: There is still plenty of room on the antacids shelf.

The article above is part of the DSN Category Review Series. For the complete Antacids Mid-Year Report, including extensive charts, data and more analysis, click here.