Embargoed for Release Until: Sunday, October 11, 1998, 6:00 p.m. Contact: Dana Victor Montenegro 202/973-5871 or [email protected]
New Arthritis Medications Avoid Risks of GI Bleeding
Boston, MA, October 11, 1998 -- New arthritis medications under development, known as COX-2 inhibitors, are not associated with gastrointestinal bleeding, which is often reported as a side effect of pain relievers known as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS), according to a double-blind, placebo and active-controlled study presented at the 63rd Annual Meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology.
Researchers working with Thomas Simon, MD and Richard Hunt, MD at Merck Research Laboratories conducted the study in 67 healthy volunteers aged 19 to 37 to test the hypothesis that fecal blood loss with a new COX-2 inhibitor under development by Merck would be equivalent to a placebo and superior to ibuprofen, an NSAID. After a one-week placebo baseline period, subjects were assigned to treatment groups which received either 25 mg or 50 mg of the COX-2 inhibitor, 800 mg of ibuprofen or a placebo for 28 days.
Both doses of the COX-2 inhibitor were equivalent to placebo and caused less blood loss than ibuprofen, and all treatments were generally well-tolerated.
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