User-friendly, oral solid dosage developer Hermes Pharma is ramping up its expansion in the US market
Hermes Pharma
US healthcare companies will now be able to expand their product lines and grow their brands more easily owing to a newly-formed team that specifically serves the US market, delivering the company’s expertise in effervescent and chewable tablets, instant drinks, lozenges and orally disintegrating granules (ODGs).
Hermes Pharma’s expansion into the US market comes at a pertinent time, given the FDA guidance released in June on improving the size and shape of tablets and capsules, as well as a recent survey conducted by the impartial market research firm Spiegel Institut Mannheim that showed half of people in the US have difficulties swallowing their medication.
Tablets and Capsules are often too big, become stuck in the throat and have an unpleasant taste/odour, causing people to chew or crush and dissolve their medication, some even stop taking their medication altogether. User-friendly dosage forms overcome these problems, as they are easy to swallow and have a pleasant taste.
From a healthcare perspective, offering patients a medication that is a pleasurable rather than stressful experience has a positive impact on compliance. It reduces healthcare costs and thus minimises the need for repeat visits to a doctor or healthcare professional.
Lastly, pharmaceutical companies are able to introduce user-friendly alternatives of current and new drugs. This is an effective way of expanding existing product lines and extending product lifecycles, as well as better meeting the needs of specific market segments (e.g., children, busy consumers, the elderly, etc.)
“We think that patients should be at the heart of product development,” said Dr Thomas Hein, senior vice president commercial and regulatory affairs, Hermes Pharma. “Now is the time to better meet their needs by turning to innovative, user-friendly dosage forms. By improving patient experience, these dosage forms provide additional value to every stakeholder, from end-users and healthcare providers, to reimbursers and pharma.”