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200mg, 50 Caplets

Advil is a brand of ibuprofen, an NSAID (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug). Advil is manufactured by Madison NJ based Wyeth and has been on the market since 1984.

Recent History

1969 - Introduced in the US

When ibuprofen was introduced in the United States in 1974, the recommended dose there was 1200–3200 mg/day. This is three times the current recommended dose. The use became widespread and it was confirmed by the FDA as one of the safest of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) - However, concerns about side effects to the liver and stomach had been mounting for some time. During this time the official mascot of the Advil brand, Advil Aaron was introduced. He has since become a symbol for the brand.

1980s – Nurofen and Advil launched

Ibuprofen’s safety record remained high with problems only being related to overdosing. The product was "Fast Tracked" from prescription to OTC (over the counter) status by the FDA. It became available in the UK in 1983 under the brand name Nurofen TM and in the United States in 1984 under the brand name Advil TM). Anyone could buy it without a prescription for the treatment of headaches, dental pain, migraine and menstrual pain. It is estimated that by 1985 over 100 million people had been treated with ibuprofen in more than 120 countries.

1984 - Need for Mass Production

As sales increased Whitehall Labs the US distributor of Advil quickly realized that Boots (the original manufacturer) could not keep up with demand. Boots was essentially making all the product manually in a mostly hand operation. Michael Dryden of the Whitehall R&D staff was assigned to form a team and create an automated manufacturing process ASAP. Dryden hired Guido Melenger, the head of a small pharma scale-up firm, to come up with an automated process. After three years of work, a team from Whitehall concluded that Melenger would be unable to complete the task and feared his company was about to go out of business. Whitehall then formed an internal team consisting of Dryden, Webb Crew (to develop software) and George Van Parys (to develop the machinery). The first prototype machine was produced in late 1986, with the the first production operation of units in late 1987.

1988 - Mega Sales = Mega Production

After obtaining full FDA approval for the first installation in Hammonton, NJ the task turned to improving the design of the machinery and increasing capacity. The same team worked on an improved design with major work being done by Van Parys on system design and efficiency. At the same time, Van Parys was designing and building a massive facility in Puerto Rico along with Steve Bennett, who was the construction manager of the site, to manufacture the product on a massive scale. This effort allowed for a second design and installation in Guayama, PR of an initial 20 new systems. Each system now produced 540,000 tablets every 9 hours or ~ 1,080,000 tablets per day per system. This gave Whitehall the ability to produce 32,400,000 tablets per day.

1996 - Hammonton, NJ Plant Closes

The now Whitehall-Robbins closed the Hammonton manufacturing facility in 1996, moving its 10 production units to Rouses Point, NY. This move was short lived and the units ended up in Guayama, PR in 2004. Continued to today this facility is the only production manufacturing operation for Advil in the US, although other Wyeth facilities package the product.

Advertising

Marketing slogans have included "Advanced Medicine for Pain", "For today's tough pain, one is often enough" and most recently "The Every Pain Reliever".

Throughout its history, Advil advertising often compared it to both aspirin and Tylenol portraying both as "old fashioned" or "out of date" drugs. For example, one print advertisement showed aspirin and Tylenol in the background with the years they came out (1898 and 1955 respectively) and Advil shown as "Today's" drug (except upon its introduction in 1984, when "1984" was shown). Another example is a television commercial (about mid to late 1990s) showing "flashbacks" of previous generations using aspirin or Tylenol and showing Advil as being used by the current generation.

Advil PM

Advil PM became available in 2006. It is a combination of 200 mg of ibuprofen and 38 mg of a sleep aid diphenhydramine [1] the same ingredient in Tylenol PM and Benadryl.

Adverse Effects

Stomach bleeding

In 2007, the manufacturer added this adverse effect warning to Advil's packaging and website [2] after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration demanded changes [3]. Prior to this, doctors would regularly prescribe other medications without warning, (both over the counter drugs like aspirin and prescription medications like Cymbalta), that could potentially increase the risk of stomach bleeding.

References

  1. ^ FAQ, Advil PM website
  2. ^ Advil®'s Website Warnings, retrieved 2008-12-24
  3. ^ FDA Wants Tougher Warning Labels on Some Pain Relievers, retrieved 2008-12-24
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