The Food and Drug Administration has given its approval to the first ‘anti-nausea patch’ for chemotherapy patients. The patch, called Sancuso, will provide relief to cancer patients for up to five days.

The patch will be required to be worn on the arm, and through the skin, it will deliver a widely used anti-nausea medicine called ‘granisetron’. It has been developed by the Scottish company, ProStrakan, and will available by the end of the year.

Nurse practitioner, Barbara Rogers, who works at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, and specializes in cancer treatment, said, “It will be another way that we can address nausea and vomiting, coming from a route that we haven’t had before.” She added, “The patch is a nice option.”

It is estimated that nearly one million people undergo chemotherapy every year. Almost 70 percent of these patients develop nausea. At the hospital such a problem can be immediately dealt with, but it has been found that most patients suffer from nausea after being sent home. Though anti-nausea pills are available, some cancer patients experience difficulty in swallowing them.

Rogers said, “The main benefit will be for people who have difficulty taking oral medications.” However, other patients would also benefit from the patch as it is so designed that it helps maintain a steady level of the anti-nausea medicine in the body for several days.  

The patch delivery system by ProStrakan has exclusive patent protection. Since the sales of anti-nausea drugs of this type are more than a billion dollars each year, ProStrakan estimates monetary gains from ‘Sancuso’ with its expected sales to touch $100m annually.