RETRACTED: A Phase III Head-to-Head Study to Compare the Efficacy and Safety of Fexuprazan and Esomeprazole in Treating Patients with Erosive Esophagitis.

Fexuprazan (Fexuclue; Daewoong Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Seoul, Korea) is a novel potassium-competitive acid blocker (P-CAB). This multi-center, randomized, double-blind, active-controlled, parallel-group, therapeutic confirmatory, phase III study was conducted to assess its efficacy and safety compared with esomeprazole (Nexium; AstraZeneca, Gothenburg, Mölndal, Sweden) in Korean patients with erosive esophagitis (EE). This study evaluated patients diagnosed with EE at a total of 25 institutions in Korea between 13 December 2018 and 7 August 2019. After voluntarily submitting a written informed consent form, the patients were evaluated using a screening test and then randomized to either of the two treatment arms. The proportion of the patients who achieved the complete recovery of mucosal breaks at 4 and 8 weeks, the proportion of those who achieved the complete recovery of heartburn at 3 and 7 days and 8 weeks, and changes in the GERD-Health-Related Quality of Life Questionnaire (GERD-HRQL) scores at 4 and 8 weeks from baseline served as efficacy outcome measures. The incidence of treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) and adverse drug reactions (ADRs) and the serum gastrin levels served as safety outcome measures. The study population comprised a total of 231 patients ( = 231) with EE, including 152 men (65.80%) and 79 women (34.20%); their mean age was 54.37 ± 12.66 years old. There were no significant differences in the efficacy and safety outcome measures between the two treatment arms ( > 0.05). It can be concluded that the efficacy and safety of Fexuclue are not inferior to those of esomeprazole in Korean patients with EE.