HEALTHCARE COMPANY REMOVES NEXIUM FROM FORMULARY

U.S. healthcare company UnitedHealth Group is removing AstraZeneca's heartburn medication Nexium from its insurance formulary.

The move is a harmful one for patients with this insurance because the drug has been found to be the most effective heartburn treatment for many patients, David Albaugh, a spokesman for AstraZeneca, said.

Nexium (esomeprazole magnesium) is also one of the highest-selling prescription drugs in the U.S., with sales of $4.6 billion in 2005. However, the company will not adjust its sales projections for the rest of this year and 2007, in part because so many other insurers continue to cover the product. These insurers include Medco Health Solutions, Caremark and Express-Scripts, Albaugh added.