1999. On August 19, 1999, rabeprazole was approved in the US for multiple gastrointestinal indications. The approval for the treatment of symptomatic gastroesophageal reflux disease was on February 12, 2002. Society and culture Legal status Rabeprazole is approved in the United States and the United Kingdom for prescription use only. Rabeprazole was approved in India in December 2001. It was approved in Japan in 1997, and in all European Union member countries since. Brand names Rabeprazole has been sold in a number of brand names: Research An alternative formulation of rabeprazole, termed "rabeprazole-ER" (extended release) has been developed. The purpose of the formulation was to increase the half-life of rabeprazole, which normally is very short in humans. Rabeprazole-ER was a 50 mg capsule composed of five non-identical 10 mg tablets that were designed to release rabeprazole at differing intervals throughout the gastrointestinal system. However, because two high quality clinical trials failed to demonstrate a benefit of rabeprazole-ER versus esomeprazole (another common PPI) for healing grade C or D erosive esophagitis, the development of rabeprazole-ER ceased. References External links Benzimidazoles Ethers Johnson & Johnson brands Janssen Pharmaceutica Japanese inventions Phenol ethers Prodrugs Proton-pump inhibitors Pyridines Sulfoxides Wikipedia medicine articles ready to translate