Polymedica Azo UTI test strips offer close to 90% at-home detection rate, firm says.

POLYMEDICA AZO UTI HOME TEST STRIPS MEASURE NITRITES AND LEUKOCYTES to ensure a close to 90% detection rate for urinary tract infections, the Woburn, Mass.-based company said. Other UTI home tests measure only nitrites and detect "only 60%-70% of infections," the company added. The stick is dipped in urine and after two minutes measured against a color chart on the Azo Strip label. It takes approximately 60 seconds for the nitrite reading to appear and two minutes for the leukocyte reading, Polymedica noted. If there is a positive/positive reading, a UTI is definite; if the leukocyte reading is positive but not the nitrite, a UTI is probable. Labeling advises retesting and a visit to a health professional if the leukocytes are negative and the nitrites positive.

Azo Test Strips home diagnostic kit is the first combination test available for home use and contains the same two reagent pads "used by more doctors than all others combined for reliability you can trust," the company said. Polymedica licenses the strips from Bayer, which received 510(k) approval for the product and manufactures the strips for Polymedica. The same two reagents are marketed by Bayer to physicians.

Azo Test Strips are reaching shelves now in retail pharmacies, chain drug stores and supermarkets nationwide after roll-out began in late January. Retailers offering the product include CVS, Rite Aid, Eckerd and Winn-Dixie. A package of three dip-and-read test strips retails for a suggested $9.99.

Print ads for Polymedica's entire Azo line of UTI treatment and prevention products will break in August issues of women's service books including Cosmopolitan, Women's Day and McCall's. The ads are tagged: "For UTI think Azo" and copy suggests Azo products cover the spectrum of diagnosis and treatment of UTI as well as the maintenance of a healthy urinary tract. The Azo agency of record is New York City-based Seiden Group.

Product packaging is tagged: "Now test for UTI at home. And simply call your doctor with the results." Packaging also states: "Reliable...Accurate...Fast & Easy to Use."

Azo Test Strips join two other UTI treatment products from Polymedica, Azo Standard urinary analgesic and Azo Cranberry, a cranberry juice concentrate in drug capsule form. Azo Standard (phenazopyridine 95 mg) is the number one selling non- prescription urinary analgesic, with over 40% of the market, according to data from food, drug and mass merchandisers compiled by Chicago-based Information Resources, Inc., Polymedica said. The cranberry product was launched as a dietary supplement in 1995. Azo Standard and Azo Cranberry together posted retail sales of close to $9 mil. in 1997, according to IRI.

In 1997, Polymedica undertook a survey of women and UTI that found only 25% of women respondents said they recognize the availability of OTC UTI analgesics, while 63% were unaware and 12% were unsure. The company-commissioned survey also found low professional awareness of OTC UTI treatments ("The Tan Sheet" June 30, 1997, p. 7). To counter the lack of consumer knowledge about UTI self treatment, Polymedica launched a consumer education brochure effort as part of a large public relations campaign that also included print, radio ads and couponing ("The Tan Sheet" June 30, 1997, p. 6). The brochures are being updated with the Azo strips information and will offer cross-selling coupons for all three Azo OTC urinary tract products.