Novartis’ Rasilez receives recommendation for approval

Novartis’ Rasilez has received recommendation for European approval as a treatment for high blood pressure.

The European Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) said it approved the drug’s marketing authorisation, following Swiss and US consent as well as clinical trials, which involved more than 2,700 patients.

Approximately 80 per cent of patients require two or more medications in order to control the condition.

Professor Rainer Dusing, managing director at the University of Bonn’s Faculty of Medicine, said: “Many patients who are suffering from high blood pressure are still not achieving their treatment goals. Therefore, it is critical that we continue to offer treatments that are effective and convenient.”

The condition is 60 per cent higher in Europe than in North America and is the main contributor of stroke, which accounts for the loss of 650,000 lives across the continent per year.

Based in Basel, Switzerland, Novartis employs 100,000 people and operates in 140 countries.

The company increased research and development investments by more than 20 per cent to $6.4 billion (4.3 billion pounds) over 2007 and was placed at number two in Fortune magazine’s World’s Most Admired Companies survey this year.