Re: Lialda

[Guest guest]

Hi Arman;

I understand that Lialda is a slightly different formulation than

Asacol. Both have the same active ingredient, mesalamine (5-

aminosalicylic acid), but they have different coatings:

Gastroenterology. 2007 Jan;132(1):66-75

Once-daily, high-concentration MMX mesalamine in active ulcerative

colitis.

Kamm MA, Sandborn WJ, Gassull M, Schreiber S, Jackowski L, T,

Lyne A, son D, Palmen M, ph RE

Department of Gastroenterology, St. Mark's Hospital, Watford Road,

Harrow, United Kingdom. m.kamm@...

BACKGROUND & AIMS: SPD476 (LIALDA in the US; MEZAVANT in the EU;

otherwise known as MMX mesalamine; Shire Pharmaceuticals Inc., Wayne,

PA, under license from Giuliani SpA, Milan, Italy) is a novel, once-

daily, high-strength (1.2 g/tablet) formulation of mesalamine,

utilizing MMX Multi Matrix System (MMX) technology designed to

deliver the active drug throughout the colon. We performed a double-

blind, multicenter study, comparing MMX mesalamine vs placebo for the

treatment of active ulcerative colitis. A delayed-release oral

mesalamine (ASACOL; Procter & Gamble, Cincinnati, OH) reference arm

was included. METHODS: Three hundred forty-three patients with

active, mild-to-moderate ulcerative colitis received MMX mesalamine

2.4 g/day or 4.8 g/day given once daily, ASACOL 2.4 g/day given in 3

divided doses, or placebo for 8 weeks. The primary end point was the

proportion of patients in clinical and endoscopic remission (modified

ulcerative colitis disease activity index of < or =1 with rectal

bleeding and stool frequency scores of 0, no mucosal friability, and

a > or =1-point reduction in sigmoidoscopy score from baseline).

RESULTS: A significantly greater proportion of patients receiving MMX

mesalamine 2.4 g/day given once daily (40.5%; P = .01) and 4.8 g/day

given once daily (41.2%; P = .007) achieved clinical and endoscopic

remission at week 8, vs placebo (22.1%). The clinical and endoscopic

remission rate for ASACOL (32.6%; P = .124) was not significantly

superior to placebo. All active treatments were well-tolerated.

CONCLUSIONS: Once-daily MMX mesalamine was efficacious and well-

tolerated for the induction of clinical and endoscopic remission. MMX

mesalamine offers effective and convenient mesalamine therapy,

potentially improving treatment compliance. PMID: 17241860.

Best regards.

Dave R.

> Is there a difference between Asacol and Lialda or are they the

same medicine with different names.