Catalent Pharma Solutions has signed an exclusive long term supply agreement with Pfizer to produce over-the-counter heartburn treatment, Nexium 24HR (esomeprazole), branded as Nexium Control outside the US, for which the US drugmaker in 2012 acquired exclusive OTC market rights from AstraZeneca.

Under the agreement, Catalent’s facility at Winchester, in the US state of Kentucky, will formulate and manufacture the 20 mg Proton Pump Inhibitor drug into enteric coated, delayed release pellets using fluid bed technology and will encapsulate these using its capsule banding technology for OTC products.

Nexium 24HR is now the top-selling OTC heartburn brand in the US. AstraZeneca continues to manufacture and sell the prescription product.