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The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a new indication for the "purple pill", NEXIUM® (esomeprazole magnesium), for the treatment of Zollinger-Ellison Syndrome (ZES). Nexium is a prescription proton pump inhibitor marketed by AstraZeneca (AZN) for the treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) in adults and children ages 12 to 17, and to reduce the risk of NSAID-associated gastric ulcers in at-risk patients.

"Zollinger-Ellison Syndrome is the prototypical gastric acid hypersecretory condition. Patients with this condition require long-term antisecretory therapy to reduce their acid output to levels that are not injurious,” said David C. Metz, MD, Professor of Medicine, and Director of the Acid-Peptic Program, Division of Gastroenterology, University of Pennsylvania Health System. "NEXIUM provides early, effective, and sustained acid suppression to help in the management of this disease.”

Source: AstraZeneca