An old friend: 25 years of meloxicam use in Russia.

Abstract

25 years ago, a new non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) – meloxicam (Movalis®) – entered the clinical practice of our country. This drug was the first embodiment of the concept of selective blockade of cyclooxygenase 2 – the main pathway followed by pharmacological science to create a safe NSAID. A series of large-scale, well-organized randomized controlled trials and observational post-registration studies have confirmed the good efficacy and low incidence of adverse reactions (ADR) when using meloxicam. In our country, this drug has become one of the most popular analgesics. Until now, the original meloxicam has enjoyed a high level of trust among Russian doctors and patients. The reason for this is a long and very extensive experience in the clinical use of meloxicam (over 25 years, 63.7 million packages of the original drug were sold, which means that millions of our Russian citizens were treated with it), as well as a large number of clinical studies conducted by Russian scientists. So, to date, there are 36 Russian studies (n=8498) assessing the efficacy and safety of the original meloxicam in a variety of diseases and clinical conditions. Practically all of these studies have shown good therapeutic results: on average, pain relief is 50–75% of the initial level; good or excellent assessment of the drug effect in 70–80% of patients. The incidence of HP was on average 10.5±5.4%, and there were no serious life-threatening complications. This review briefly presents the data of Russian and major foreign clinical studies, which studied the therapeutic potential and safety of meloxicam.