Servier receives EMEA approval for Procoralan in angina treatment

Servier has been granted approval by the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) to market its heart disease treatment Procoralan in a new indication for angina patients.

The healthcare firm’s ivabradine treatment has been ratified by the European regulator as the first rate-limiting anti-anginal drug to be used in conjunction with beta-blockers in chronic stable angina patients with elevated heart rates.

This approval comes in response to the results from a recent clinical trial, which showed that patients using Procoralan responded significantly better than those treated using beta-blockers alone.

Dr Paul Kalra, consultant cardiologist at Queen Alexandra Hospital, Portsmouth, stated that providing better methods of controlling elevated heart rates is essential to the development of angina treatment.

He added: “This is therefore an important advance for the treatment of thousands of patients whose symptoms cannot be controlled with beta-blockers alone.”

This comes after data presented by the European Society of Cardiology in September 2009 suggested that those using Procoralan to reduce their heart rates can lower their risk of suffering a heart attack by 42 per cent.