BURROUGHS WELLCOME LAUNCHING SUDAFED COLD & COUGH LIQUID CAPS

BURROUGHS WELLCOME LAUNCHING SUDAFED COLD & COUGH LIQUID CAPS to the trade in July, with consumer advertising and promotion to begin in the fall. The non-drowsy, multi-symptom formula represents Burroughs Wellcome's first OTC product in a soft gel capsule. Sudafed Cold & Cough Liquid Caps will be indicated for stuffy nose, sinus congestion, minor sore throat pain, headache, body aches and pains, fever, coughing and chest congestion. The formulation includes acetaminophen 250 mg, dextromethorphan 10 mg, guaifenesin 100 mg and pseudoephedrine 30 mg. The product will be packaged in counts of 10 and 20 capsules. Media support for the product launch will include a television ad budget of $ 13 mil. with commercials scheduled to begin running in the fall. Burroughs Wellcome is telling the trade that the Sudafed Cold & Cough launch will be backed with more television ad support than any Sudafed product has ever received. New York-based McCaffrey And McCall currently handles the Sudafed line and will pick up the new line extension. Burroughs Wellcome also is increasing its advertising and promotional support for the entire Sudafed product line. The company is dedicating more than $ 28 mil. to the Sudafed brand in an advertising spree which will begin on Oct. 4. Backing the line are three nationwide free-standing inserts in Sunday newspaper supplements which will announce the introduction. Slated for Sept. 19 and January, the FSIs will include 75 " off coupon drops. An Oct. 10 FSI will feature the new product and include coupons for $ 1. Promotions also will include sample packs available in stores nationwide. In addition, the company plans to spend $ 1.7 mil. detailing the product to physicians and pharmacists. Sudafed Cold & Cough is among a slew of new line extensions based on novel OTC dosage forms (see related stories in this issue). The last time the company experimented with Sudafed dosage forms was in March 1991 following the Sudafed tampering incident in Washington state. After FDA recommended that industry move away from two-piece hard shell capsules, Burroughs Wellcome came out with Sudafed 12 Hour coated caplets.