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Explaining why a drug's effect was much less than expected Janssen also was interested in exploring why rabeprazole is more effective in relieving heartburn in GERD patients with erosive esophagitis than in those without erosive esophagitis. (This result was unexpected because GERD patients with erosive esophagitis have higher esophageal acid exposure and were expected to be less responsive to drugs like rabeprazole.) SFO's analysis of a large database of 24-hour pH recordings provided by Janssen, showed that GERD patients without erosive esophagitis had integrated gastric acidity after eating that was resistant to inhibition by rabeprazole and similar drugs. The results provide a clear rationale for using higher doses of rabeprazole in such cases and point to a phenomenon for which a pharmaceutical company might try to develop a better treatment. [View the details of the study in Reference 339.]