Nexium Control

Nexium Control can be obtained without a prescription. It is available as tablets (20 mg) which are gastroresistant (the contents pass through the stomach without being broken down until they reach the intestine). The recommended dose is one tablet per day for up to two weeks until the symptoms are relieved. If symptoms persist after two weeks, the patient should see a doctor. For further information, see the package leaflet.

The active substance in Nexium Control, esomeprazole, is a proton-pump inhibitor. It works by blocking ‘proton pumps’, proteins found in specialised cells in the stomach lining, which pump acid into the stomach. By blocking the pumps, esomeprazole reduces acid production, thereby relieving the symptoms of acid reflux.

Nexium Control has been compared with placebo (a dummy treatment) in two main studies involving 718 adult patients with reflux symptoms including heartburn. The patients were treated for four weeks. The main measure of effectiveness in both studies was the percentage of patients whose heartburn symptoms had completely cleared up at the end of the study.

In the first study, around 34% of patients taking a 20 mg dose of Nexium Control (41 out of 121) had no more heartburn symptoms, compared with around 14% of patients taking placebo (17 out of 124). In the second study, around 42% of patients taking Nexium Control (47 out of 113) had no more heartburn symptoms, compared with around 12% of patients taking placebo (14 out of 118). In both studies, most patients whose symptoms completely cleared up had already achieved this in the first two weeks, while patients whose symptoms did not completely clear up in two weeks showed little further improvement from continued treatment.

Headache, abdominal pain, diarrhoea and nausea are among the most common side effects with Nexium Control (which may affect up to 1 in 10 patients). For the full list of all side effects reported with Nexium Control, see the package leaflet.

Nexium Control must not be used together with another medicine called nelfinavir (used to treat HIV infection). For the full list of restrictions, see the package leaflet.

A risk management plan has been developed to ensure that Nexium Control is used as safely as possible. Based on this plan, safety information has been included in the summary of product characteristics and the package leaflet for Nexium Control, including the appropriate precautions to be followed by healthcare professionals and patients.

The European Commission granted a marketing authorisation valid throughout the European Union for Nexium Control on 26 August 2013.

For more information about treatment with Nexium Control, read the package leaflet (also part of the EPAR) or contact your doctor or pharmacist.

The Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) decided that Nexium Control’s benefits are greater than its risks and recommended that it be approved for use in the EU. The CHMP concluded that the medicine’s effects were already well established, as esomeprazole-containing medicines have been authorised in EU countries since 2000, and that its short-term benefits had been demonstrated in studies where most patients’ symptoms cleared up in two weeks. The Committee concluded that patients could safely treat themselves with the medicine for up to two weeks.

Nexium Control is a medicine that contains the active substance esomeprazole. It is used in adults for the short-term treatment of reflux symptoms (sometimes called acid reflux), such as heartburn and acid regurgitation.

Nexium Control is similar to a ‘reference medicine’ already authorised in the European Union (EU) containing the same active substance, called Nexium. The reference medicine is only available with a prescription, but Nexium Control is intended for short-term use without a prescription.