Editing Loratadine (section)

== History ==
[[Schering-Plough]] developed loratadine as part of a quest for a potential [[blockbuster drug]]: a [[sedative|nonsedating]] antihistamine. By the time Schering submitted the drug to the [[U.S. Food and Drug Administration]] (FDA) for approval, the agency had already approved a competitor's nonsedating antihistamine, [[terfenadine]] (trade name Seldane), and, therefore, put loratadine on a lower priority.<ref name="NYTimes">{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/11/magazine/the-claritin-effect-prescription-for-profit.html?pagewanted=all | work=[[The New York Times]] | title=The Claritin Effect; Prescription for Profit | vauthors = Hall SS | date=11 March 2001 | access-date=28 June 2010 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150527160442/http://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/11/magazine/the-claritin-effect-prescription-for-profit.html?pagewanted=all | archive-date=27 May 2015 }}</ref>  However, terfenadine had to be removed from the U.S. market by the manufacturer in late 1997 after reports of serious ventricular arrhythmias among those taking the drug.<ref>{{cite web| title= FDA Approves Allegra-D, Manufacturer To Withdraw Seldane From Marketplace | publisher= [[Food and Drug Administration]] | url= https://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/ANSWERS/ANS00843.html | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080223144824/https://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/ANSWERS/ANS00843.html | archive-date= 23 February 2008 | access-date=11 November 2010}}</ref><ref name="jama96">{{cite journal | vauthors = Thompson D, Oster G | title = Use of terfenadine and contraindicated drugs | journal = JAMA | volume = 275 | issue = 17 | pages = 1339–41 | date = May 1996 | pmid = 8614120 | doi = 10.1001/jama.1996.03530410053033 | publisher = [[American Medical Association]] }}</ref>

Loratadine was approved by the FDA in 1993.<ref name="NYTimes" /> The drug continued to be available only by prescription in the U.S. until it went off patent in 2002.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/schering-plough-loses-patent-lawsuit-over-claritin-opening-door-for-cheaper-generic-versions-70880857.html|title=Schering-Plough Loses Patent Lawsuit Over Claritin, Opening Door For Cheaper Generic Versions|date=5 August 2003|website=[[PRNewswire]]|publisher=Leiner Health Products|access-date=26 June 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160812201604/http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/schering-plough-loses-patent-lawsuit-over-claritin-opening-door-for-cheaper-generic-versions-70880857.html|archive-date=12 August 2016}}</ref> It was then subsequently approved for over-the-counter sales. Once it became an unpatented over-the-counter drug, the price dropped significantly.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}}

Schering also [[drug development|developed]] [[desloratadine]] (Clarinex/Aerius), which is an [[active metabolite]] of loratadine.