Study on the effectiveness of branded and generic antacid suspension forms

The efficacy of the antacid suspension formulations and the price of the products are two important factors influencing the selection of an antacid preparation. The present work was aimed at comparing different branded and generic antacid suspensions for their effectiveness. Various tests like acid neutralizing capacity (ANC), viscosity, particle size and specific gravity were conducted for selected commercial antacid suspensions. The reported ANC values for all the suspensions were found to be higher than the recommended values i.e. 5 mEq. C1 and C2 were found to show highest ANC values whereas C6 and C7were showing lowest effectiveness among the selected commercial suspensions. Low cost C5 and C2 suspensions were found to be equally effective with that of the C1, C3, C4 and C7 costly branded suspensions. Though all the suspensions contain aluminum hydroxide as active ingredient, its strength is not reflecting the ANC of the corresponding suspension. It is not possible for the physician to select antacid suspension of required strength without ANC value. ANC value must be made as mandatory information on the label of the antacid products.