Covidien, a leading global provider of healthcare products, introduced EXALGO™ (hydromorphone HCI) Extended-Release Tablets, (CII), the only extended-release hydromorphone treatment available in the United States. This proven therapy, combined with an innovative delivery system, provides opioid-tolerant patients suffering from moderate-to-severe chronic pain relief for 24 hours per dose.

Approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on March 1, 2010, EXALGO tablets provide a well-known therapy in hydromorphone HCl – used in the treatment of chronic pain for more than 80 years. The indication for EXALGO is once-daily administration for the management of moderate-to-severe pain in opioid-tolerant patients requiring continuous, around-the-clock opioid analgesia for an extended period of time. EXALGO is available in 8 mg, 12 mg and 16 mg tablets.

“Chronic pain patients experience pain so severe it can often be crippling,” said noted pain treatment expert Dr. Lynn Webster, medical director of Lifetree Clinical Research and Pain Clinic in Salt Lake City, Utah. “This pain can make it almost impossible for patients to hold a job or to do simple activities, such as going to the grocery store or taking their child to soccer practice.  Extended-release formulations like EXALGO can help make daily pain more manageable by avoiding the peaks and troughs of pain that can occur with short-acting opioids.”

Source:web of APR