Omeprazole: New look, same medicine

New look Active

The capsule colour, brand name, and packaging for omeprazole capsules are changing. They are still made by the same company.

28 April 2025 | Update

The Pharmaceutical Society of New Zealand (in conjunction with the Royal College of GPs of NZ, College of Nurses Aotearoa, and Pharmac) has issued an alert about the omeprazole 40 mg and flecainide 100 mg looking alike. 

Alert: Look alike medicines – omeprazole 40 mg and flecainide 100 mg [PDF, 527 KB]

What's happening?

Teva, the supplier, has changed the brand name, packaging, and size and colour of the capsules for omeprazole capsules. The new 20 mg and 40 mg capsule are now being supplied. The 10 mg will be supplied from March 2025. 

Detail 10 mg 20 mg 40 mg
Current Pharmacode 2604930 2604949 2604957
New Pharmacode 2692155 2692163 2692171
Date of supply April 2025 October 2024 October 2024

New look, same medicine 

The new capsules are from the same supplier as the current ones. The new capsules are Medsafe-registered. This means Medsafe has reviewed them and assessed that they meet New Zealand standards of safety, quality, and effectiveness. 

Datasheet for the new Teva omeprazole | Medsafe website [PDF](external link)

Datasheet for the previous Actavis omeprazole (made by Teva) | Medsafe website [PDF](external link)

While the capsules may be a different size, they contain the same amount of the active ingredient and will work in your body the same way. 

Teva advises that it has made minor changes to the inactive ingredients (excipients). You can see the differences in the datasheets (section 6.1).

We have prepared a flier for pharmacists to support conversations with people who take omeprazole.

10 mg capsules

Current 10 mg capsule is yellow, the new one is green and white. The label has "10 mg" in a prominent grey lozenge. .
Not shown to scale

40 mg capsules

Current 40 mg capsule is two shades of grey, the new one is royal blue and white. The label has "40 mg" in a prominent blue lozenge. .
Not shown to scale

20 mg capsules

Current 20 mg capsule is while, the new one is blue and white. The label has "20 mg" in a prominent green lozenge. .
Not shown to scale
two squat white plastic pill bottles that look the same. Key difference is the labels indicating the strength..
Not shown to scale

Key dates

1 October 2024 | New capsules and Pharmacodes listed on the Schedule.

October 2024 | The new look 40 mg and 20 mg capsules replaced current capsules.

April 2025 | The new look 10 mg capsules will replace current capsules.

Pharmacists blister packing omeprazole and flecainide

The Teva omeprazole 40 mg capsules are supplied as loose capsules in a bottle. Flecainide 100 mg capsules are supplied in a foil strip. But the capsules themselves look the same. 

Removing the capsules from the foil strip for blister packing may make it difficult to check which medicine has been packed in the blister.

For blister pack patients, pharmacists can consider changing omeprazole 40 mg capsules to 2 x omeprazole 20 mg capsules. The 2 x 20 mg capsules are funded.

Who to contact

If you have any feedback about this change, we suggest you talk to Teva first:

If Teva cannot resolve your question, email enquiry@pharmac.govt.nz