SELF-CARE

New products ready to roll for cough/cold season

With the cough and cold season right around the corner, pharmaceutical manufacturers are preparing to release a slew of new products. Here's a sampling of what consumers will find on store shelves:

Novartis Consumer Health, Summit, N.J., is offering a "new, better taste" across its TheraFlu Hot liquid line. The line, which consists of seven formulas, sports new packaging that features a banner and a flag drawing consumers' attention to the improved taste. The firm plans to tout the new improved taste in TV ads and in in-store promotions.

Pfizer, Morris Plains, N.J., is rolling out Sudafed Sinus Nighttime and Sudafed Sinus Nighttime Plus Pain Relief. The manufacturer claims that Sudafed Sinus Nighttime releases sinus pressure and unblocks congestion that makes breathing and sleeping difficult. Sudafed Sinus Nighttime Plus Pain Relief contains an added pain-relieving ingredient formulated for fast relief of sinus pain and headache. The suggested retail price for both products ranges from $3.99 to $4.29. The launch of the products will be supported with advertising.

Bayer Consumer Care is introducing new Alka-Seltzer Plus Flu Medicine in honey orange flavor. The product contains 1,000 mg aspirin, a cough suppressant, and an antihistamine. In response to consumer preference, its improved formula works in cold water.

The company is also debuting the following new improved Alka-Seltzer Plus products for the cold season: Original Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold Medicine in sparkling original, cherry burst, and orange zest; Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold & Sinus Medicine nondrowsy formula; Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold & Cough Medicine; and Alka-Seltzer Plus Night-Time Medicine. A consumer and trade campaign will tout all of the products.

Mentholatum Co., Orchard Park, N.Y., is unveiling new Sugar Free Refreshing Apple & Cinnamon flavor in its Fisherman's Friend line. The lozenges are available in a 35-count souvenir tin, with a suggested retail price of $1.99.

Quigley, Doylestown, Pa., is launching two new Cold-Eeze products: Cold-Eeze Cinnamon Gum and Cold-Eeze Sugar Free. According to Albert Piechotta, director of marketing and communications, Cold-Eeze Cinnamon Gum contains the same Cold-Eeze ingredient—zinc gluconate glycine—in a stick of gum. Four five-stick packs are packaged together for a suggested retail price of $4.99. The dosage is six sticks of gum per day. Each stick should be chewed for 10 minutes and should be taken every three to four hours until cold symptoms have disappeared, he said. The product is targeted to consumers aged 12 and up.

The second new product, Cold-Eeze Sugar Free, is an unflavored lozenge. A 48-count blister pack has a suggested price of $4.99. "We're targeting people who watch their sugar, especially diabetics. The product is safe for people with diabetes. It doesn't raise blood sugar," said Piechotta. The dosage is one piece every hour, and up to 16 a day may be taken, he said.

Prestige Brands International, Bonita Springs, Fla., has a new offering: Kids Chloraseptic Sore Throat Spray. Alison Calder, director of marketing, told Drug Topics that the 6-oz. spray contains 0.5% of the active ingredient phenol, compared with 1.4% phenol in the rest of the Chloraseptic line. The product, which is available in grape flavor, has a suggested retail price of $4.99. A national TV campaign will support the launch.

A new entry from Heritage Brands/INSIGHT Pharmaceuticals, Brookfield, Conn., is Sucrets Cough Suppressant lozenges for ages 12 and up. Available in cherry and wintergreen, the product contains dextromethorphan hydrobromide. Sucrets Cough Suppressant comes in a silver, metalicized plastic case. Each case contains 18 blister-sealed lozenges. The suggested retail price is $2.99.

Heritage Brands/INSIGHT Pharmaceuticals is also rolling out N'ICE Powerful Cough Formula. The product contains 10 mg of menthol, instead of the 5 mg in the regular N'ICE formula. The product comes in a flip-top box, and each drop is individually foil wrapped. The suggested retail price is $2.19 to $2.49 for an 18-count package. The firm used a new technology to offer a compressed lozenge, which can maintain the full 10 mg of menthol. N'ICE Powerful Cough Formula comes in lemon ice, cherry frost, and powerful peppermint flavors.

Ricola, Morris Plains, N.J., is taking the wraps off new Cherry-Honey Ricola Herb Throat Drops. A 24-count bag has a suggested retail price of $1.79.

Boiron USA has designed new packaging for its homeopathic flu product, Oscillo. The front of the package notifies consumers that Oscillo is "Nature's #1 Flu Medicine." According to a company spokeswoman, product distribution has been expanded and includes Walgreens.

Sandra Levy

Sandra Levy. New products ready to roll for cough/cold season.

Drug Topics

2001;16:23.