Trust me NOT defending drug companies (ugh) but I believe all meds with that compound in it were removed from the market, not just Asacol...for whatever that's worth...:smile:
I think the point is that Delzicol is manufactured in Germany. The response to the FDA order seems to have been to reformulate Asacol HD and move production of Asacol in a trivially different physical form offshore.
Both changes have no apparent pharmacological motivation. A loophole in the regs? Hard to believe that German pharma laws would be more tolerant than the US. But maybe WC doesn't market it in Germany. A trival patent extension strategy? Well, it sure seems convenient, but Asacol HD came on the market well before they withdrew Asacol. (Didn't you get cupons from the manufacturer?) There's nothing concrete to base a guess on and the drug companies sure aren't talking while the flavor lasts.
OTOH, the difference between Asacol and other mesalazine formulations was the pH selective coating. That made it the only oral therapy I could tolerate. Is the DBP essential to the action of the coating? Can't be absolutely necessary if Asacol HD does not include it. But, then, maybe the renewed patent isn't truly trivial.
I'm old and my children have moved on. I avoid phtalates when I can. But in this case the risk/benefit goes to the Delzicol side. (But that really ticks me off.)
--jrogers