An analogue of Omeprazole tablets is cheap. Price

Omeprazole is an antiulcer drug in tablets or capsules and is actively used for the treatment of gastric or intestinal ulcer of any etiology. Its use is also relevant for esophagitis or disorders in the functioning of the digestive system caused by taking painkillers. There are many structural and functional analogs on the pharmaceutical market. Each of them has its own characteristics of release and use.

Basic instructions

Peptic ulcer is a serious disease that, in the absence of timely and effective therapy, can lead to a number of complications, including death. According to statistics, in Russia every tenth adult suffers from gastrointestinal ulcers.

Patients suffer from symptoms such as:

• heartburn;
• nausea;
• vomit;
• belching;
• pain in the abdomen of varying intensity.

To alleviate the condition, a person begins to use pain relievers and other symptomatic drugs. In this case, the disease is only aggravated, because NSAIDs only relieve pain, but do not eliminate the cause of the disease. If the patient does not seek medical help for a long time, the disease can progress rapidly, which increases the risk of internal bleeding. This complication requires urgent medical intervention and is difficult to eliminate. Therefore, it is important to consult a gastroenterologist even if at least one of the listed symptoms occurs.

Often, pathology must be treated in a comprehensive manner. This is the only way to achieve stable remission and improve the patient's quality of life. Omeprazole-based drugs become one of the components of such therapy. The most common cause of peptic ulcer disease is the bacterium Helicobacter pylori. For its removal from the mucous membrane of the gastrointestinal tract, the use of a drug of the proton pump inhibitors group (omeprazole or the like) and an antibacterial agent is indicated. Omeprazole promotes ulcer healing, reducing the risk of recurrence or bleeding.

The active ingredient of the drug is omeprazole, which, depending on the form of release, can have 2 dosages per 1 tablet or capsule:

• 20 mg;
• 40 mg.

Omeprazole is a prodrug; when it enters the body, it turns into the active substance sulfenamide, which has the following mechanism of action:

• It inhibits the activity of the proton pump in the cells of the gastric mucosa, thereby blocking the synthesis of hydrochloric acid.
• As a result, when exposed to any stimuli, an excessive amount of gastric juice is not produced.
• In addition, the compound interferes with pepsin synthesis.

Therefore, omeprazole has a selective and long-lasting effect. For example, 20 mg of the drug maintains the pH in the stomach at the proper level for 17 hours.

Most often, the drug is prescribed by gastroenterologists for the treatment of the following pathologies:

• peptic ulcer of the stomach and duodenum in the stage of exacerbation or, conversely, in the stage of remission (in order to prevent the development of relapses);
• inflammation of the lining of the esophagus;
• diseases in which excessive production of hydrochloric acid occurs (hyperacid conditions);
• the drug can also be prescribed by a specialist in order to reduce the risk of side effects with long-term use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

Analogues are cheaper

Omeprazole tablets have many analogues. This is due to the fact that proton pump inhibitors have been used in medical practice for more than one decade. During this time, many different trade names have been produced.

All issued funds can be divided into 2 main groups:

• Structural analogs are drugs with a similar active substance, mechanism of action, list of indications for use.
• Functional analogs are products that do not contain omeprazole, but have a similar effect to it due to other active ingredients.

Structural analogs include:

• Omez;
• Gastrozole;
• Losek-Maps.

The list goes on for a long time, drugs based on omeprazole are produced by dozens of pharmaceutical companies and this is their main difference from each other.

Functional analogues are:

• Nolpaza (the active ingredient is pantoprazole);
• Emanera (esomeprazole);
• Nexium (esomeprazole).

The list doesn't end there. The article will conduct a comparative analysis between structural analogs, since it is on them that the specialist focuses his attention if it is necessary to replace one agent with another.

Omez

An analogue of omeprazole in tablets is produced by the Indian pharmaceutical company "Dr Reddy`s Laboratories, LTD". The dosage of the drug can also be 20 mg or 40 mg per capsule. Since the drugs are complete analogs of each other, they have many similar characteristics.

For example:

• the name and quantity of the active component;
• pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics;
• mechanism of action;
• application area;
• manufactured forms of drugs;
• storage conditions and dispensing from the pharmacy organization.

Before deciding on one of them, it is important to determine how the funds differ from each other. For example, drugs are from different manufacturers. Omez is a product of an Indian company. And omeprazole is produced in Russia by several pharmaceutical companies (Akrikhin, Obnovlenie, OZON and many others).

Gastrozole

The drug is produced at the Pharmstandard-Leksredstva plant in Russia. It is produced in the same way as many similar drugs, in capsules. It is believed that capsules represent the optimal form of release, since microscopic granules are contained within the capsule shell. This provides a gradual release of the active ingredient. Thanks to this technology, omeprazole begins to act 60 minutes after ingestion.

During this time, the swallowed capsule will have time to overcome the path through the esophagus and dissolve so that the active substance will accurately reach its goal. The action lasts about 24 hours. The use of one capsule containing 20 mg of the active substance provides inhibition of the production of gastric juice, both during the day and at night. The exception is the drug Losek-Maps, which is produced in coated tablets, but it will be described below.

Losek-MAPS

An analogue of Omeprazole in tablets called Losec-MAPS is an original drug among all similar drugs. The manufacturer is the Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca. All the products discussed above are its generics. These are drugs that are a kind of copy of the original. What is the difference between generics and the original, if they are all based on omeprazole?

Losek-MAPS underwent a number of randomized controlled trials during its creation. Thus, the formula of this drug has proven its therapeutic efficacy and safety. Omez, Omeprazole, Gastrozole, although they have the same active substance, still have not undergone so many studies, therefore they do not have their own evidence base.

When the original is created and released to the pharmaceutical market, the manufacturer becomes the owner of the patent. This document does not allow anyone to manufacture such drugs. However, a patent has an expiration date, and upon its expiration, companies begin to release products with a similar effect on the market.

Their differences from Losek - MAPS are as follows:

• Release form. The original drug is produced in the form of film-coated tablets. Generics are available in the form of capsules, the shell of which dissolves in the intestine. According to the rules of technology, the capsule allows the drug to be released gradually. However, the effectiveness of the original, which is produced in tablets, proves that this issue is not fundamental.
• Production technology. Generics can change the creation algorithm. This is evidenced by the lists of auxiliary components, which are presented in the instructions for use. As a rule, they are very different from each other. This can significantly affect the quality of the product, because as a result, the rate of entry of the active component into the tissues changes, and its concentration decreases. The requirements in the Russian Federation on this issue are quite flexible. There is no need for manufacturers to completely repeat the clinical experience of the original creators. The main thing is that the biological equivalence of drugs is the same. Also, the MAPS prefix in the name of the original drug indicates that during its creation, the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca uses the unique patented omeprazole molecule and no other company has the right to copy it for their own goals.

Now you should pay attention to the fact that in many ways the original and generics are still similar. For example, side effects and a list of contraindications.

The analogue of Omeprazole in tablets reduces the risk of developing unwanted side reactions to a minimum, while providing the maximum therapeutic effect. There was no expert comparison of funds under this item.

Presumably, the frequency and severity of unwanted side reactions in drugs are the same. Headache, flatulence, diarrhea, sometimes occur in a small number of patients. As a rule, the symptoms are not very pronounced and go away on their own. In practice, it has been established that Losec-Maps causes side effects somewhat less frequently than omeprazole.

All means for internal use based on omeprazole are contraindicated in patients who are carrying a child at any time or are in the lactation period. The only exceptions are Omez and Losek MAPS.

In the instructions for using Omez, it is allowed to use it during pregnancy or lactation, since omeprazole enters breast milk only in insignificant quantities. This is not enough for a negative effect on the child's body. Also, the teratogenic (fatal) action of the drug has not been established.

However, no official research has yet been carried out in this area. What can not be said about the creator of the original drug AstraZeneca conducted independent studies and proved the safety of using Losec MAPS in pregnant and lactating patients. Despite this, when using Omez by pregnant and lactating women, the course of treatment should be carried out under the strict supervision of the attending physician.

Contraindications for omeprazole-based drugs also include children's age:

• under 2 years of age when treating reflux disease;
• under 4 years of age in the treatment of peptic ulcer disease.

Price of funds

The analogue of Omeprazole tablets and the original product have different prices.

Name	Price
Omeprazole 20 mg, 30 capsules	35-85 rubles
Omez 20 mg, 30 capsules	RUB 110-160
Gastrozole 20 mg, 14 capsules	80-130 rub.
Losek MAPS. 20 mg, 14 tablets 20 mg, 28 tablets	RUB 250-300 RUB 500-550

The final cost of one pack may differ, the amount depends on the region and the pricing policy of the pharmacy organization.

As can be seen from the table, omeprazole has the lowest cost. The cost is presented for the drug produced by Akrikhin. To compare the benefits of buying Omez and Gastrozole, you should calculate the cost of 1 capsule. To do this, the average price from the table must be divided by the number of capsules in the package.

• Omez: 135/30 = 4.5 (how much the buyer will cost 1 capsule of the drug);
• Gastrozole: 105/14 = 7.5.

Thus, the purchase of the drug Omez is a profitable option. Another advantage of it in comparison with Gastrozole is its widespread use in the pharmaceutical market. Omez can actually be found in every pharmacy. Gastrozole is also widely used, but in some cases it is not possible to obtain it the first time.

Separately, it should be noted about Losek MAPS its high cost. 1 tablet of the original product will cost the buyer an average of 19.6 rubles. (when buying a small package) and 18.7 (when buying a large one). The difference in comparison with other items in the table is noticeable (the cost of the original is 4-5 times higher).

The high price is typical for original products. Indeed, this cost includes the transportation of the drug from Europe to Russia, as well as the costs of conducting our own research to prove the safety of the drug. If the specialists of the company "AstraZeneca" did not carry out this work, no company in the world would be able to produce generic drugs based on omeprazole.

As a rule, the creators of the original use their own medicinal substances for its production. Their quality and purity are usually orders of magnitude higher than generics. This can explain the low percentage of side effects or allergic reactions in patients who take Losek MAPS.

Therefore, by purchasing an original product, the buyer receives a kind of guarantee that his therapy will be carried out using a high-quality and safe drug among all possible options.

If it is necessary to use a drug based on omeprazole, several factors should be taken into account:

• manufacturer;
• the number of side effects;
• contraindications;
• price.

Benefit should not come first in this case. As a rule, cheap analogs have a higher risk of side effects and allergic reactions and a lower therapeutic activity. Losek MAPS possesses a high safety profile. It is advisable to give preference to this particular tool. However, if the cost seems too high, then the choice should be made in favor of Omez. Perhaps, in this category, it is a drug with an optimal ratio of price and quality.

All compared drugs are prescription drugs and can be dispensed from the pharmacy organization only upon presentation of the form prescribed by the doctor to the pharmacist. The fact is that proton pump inhibitors can lubricate the symptoms of more serious pathologies (for example, pancreatic cancer). So the patient can lose precious time on the treatment of the disease. Therefore, before starting the appointment, it is important to undergo an examination and establish an accurate diagnosis.

Omeprazole is often the drug of choice in the treatment of peptic ulcer and other hyperacid conditions. However, when choosing a specific product, it is better to give preference to the original analogue in tablets called Losek. A high-quality and effective drug fully pays for its cost.

Author: Olga Orlova

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