SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP) -- A new type of painkiller that has been trumpeted on Wall Street as potentially the next blockbuster drug is getting a cautious nod from government scientists who say it might be a little easier on patients' stomachs than many of today's pain relievers.
Advisers to the Food and Drug Administration unanimously recommended Tuesday that G.D. Searle be allowed to sell Celebrex, by prescription, to help relieve painful symptoms of arthritis.Thus Celebrex is poised to be the first in a new class of painkillers called "cox-2 inhibitors" to hit the U.S. market. Analysts had predicted that cox-2 inhibitors would be marketed to millions of people as a way to relieve a variety of pains with fewer stomach-plaguing side effects than many popular painkillers.
But the FDA's advisers dampened some of the expectations for Celebrex: They stopped short of recommending the use of the drug for other kinds of pain. And they cautioned that while there are suggestions that Celebrex may be easier on the stomach, few people have taken it long enough to know its long-term safety.
The panel said Celebrex doesn't need the standard ulcer warning that comes with other painkillers, but it was stymied on just what warning to give. "Certainly this drug is not ulcer-free," said Dr. Daniel Lovell, a Cincinnati pediatric rheumatologist.