AFT prevails in comparative advertising judgement

AFT Pharmaceuticals (NZX: AFT, ASX: AFP) today welcomes the dismissal of an application by Reckitt & Benckiser to appeal a comparative advertising judgement handed down in December 2021.

Yesterday the High Court of Australia turned down the application by the UK-based consumer products giant to appeal a judgement that found AFT was justified in making a series of claims in relation to the efficacy of its Maxigesic pain relief tablets.

AFT Managing Director Hartley Atkinson said: “We are pleased with the outcome. We take our legal obligations around product promotion seriously and find this judgement final vindication of our approach.

“The judgement means we are now able to use in promotional materials the results of the Daniels study1, which compared the US formulation of Maxigesic with paracetamol and ibuprofen and placebo individually in 408 patients undergoing dental surgery.

“Maxigesic is the market leader in the paracetamol and ibuprofen combination medicine market in Australia. We believe informing customers of the analgesic effect of our medicine when compared to the individual paracetamol or ibuprofen agents will assist us to consolidate our position and accelerate our sales growth path.”

AFT is meanwhile now in the process of launching the first of a number of Maxigesic oral dose form line extensions - Maxigesic Hot Drink Sachets2 (Paracetamol 1000mg + Ibuprofen 300mg sachets and Paracetamol 500mg + Ibuprofen 150mg sachets) in the Australian market.

The product has arrived just in time for the winter cold and flu season, which appears to have already started in Australia3. AFT presented the sachets at the 2022 Australian Pharmacy Professional (APP) conference on the Gold Coast in March.

The conference, Australasia’s most significant pharmacy industry event, attracted around 7,000 attendees. Anecdotal feedback from the conference floor suggests AFT’s products were very well received, and it was great to be able to attend in person and reconnect with our key Australian customer base, Dr Atkinson said.

For and on behalf of AFT Pharmaceuticals Limited by Malcolm Tubby, Chief Financial Officer.