Brazilian Patent Office Issues Patent For AccuDial Pharmaceutical Dosing System
AccuDial Pharmaceutical announced recently that the Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office has issued patent No. 0108453-4, relating to a device for calculating therapeutically correct doses of liquid medications based on a patient's weight instead of age.
Dosing by weight, rather than age, is a core issue of the safety and efficacy of over-the-counter medications for children. Many pharmaceutical manufacturers state on their label or Web site, "If possible, dose by weight." However, on their bottle and box, they only provide dosing directions by general age groups because there is not enough room to provide dosing directions by specific weight. For example, dosing directions on a popular cough medication for children in the 6 to 12 age group, with weights ranging from 48 pounds to 96 pounds, all receive the same dose of medication. By weight-based dosing standards, only the children weighing 48 pounds to 52 pounds would receive the therapeutically correct dose. The remainder would be under-dosed by 10%-90%.
"Dosing errors and accidental ingestions are the leading causes of adverse events in children related to analgesic, allergy, and cough and cold medications," stated Brian Kaplan M.D., founder of AccuDial. "It has been my experience that when dosed correctly, over-the-counter medications work properly. But when we under-dose, we are not giving our children the therapeutically correct amount of medication, causing symptoms to return before the next scheduled dosing." Dr. Kaplan is an emergency room physician with over 15 years' experience who is used to seeing the results of inaccurate dosing. "I recommend weight-based dosing to all my patients."
To find the correct therapeutic dose, a parent simply rotates the AccuDial label until their child's weight appears in the viewing window. Below the weight is the correct therapeutic dose for their child. Every AccuDial brand product includes a dosing spoon that is calibrated to match the dosing directions.
The patented method will be available on all nine of AccuDial's over-the-counter pediatric medications. Also, the company uses the most popular active ingredients in their analgesic, allergy, and cough and cold medications.
"The issuance of this patent is a key milestone for marketing AccuDial Pharmaceutical products in Brazil," said Bob Terwilliger, president and CEO of AccuDial. "Brazil is a major South American market with 196 million people, of which 53 million are between ages 2 and 12."
AccuDial is working with the United States Department of Commerce and their São Paolo, Brazil, office to register the company's products with the Brazilian Ministry of Health and to select a marketing partner. The company is discussing a joint venture with several large Brazilian pharmaceutical companies.
AccuDial has filed with Health Canada for approval to launch AccuDial's over-the-counter analgesic, allergy, and cold and cough medications by mid-2009. In addition, the company is working on obtaining Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for the United States. The company is also preparing to file with the European Medicines Agency (EMEA), the regulatory agency for the European Union.
For more details on all AccuDial Pharmaceutical products, and to see a video demonstration, go to www.accuratedose.com.
SOURCE: AccuDial Pharmaceutical