Novartis announces research and development pipeline

Novartis has this week published data regarding its research and development pipeline, announcing that it has 138 pharmaceutical projects in some phase of development.

The company reports that a number of its products have advanced into key trial stages before they are to be submitted to regulatory bodies and that it also anticipates a number of approvals for its treatment of patients with cancer, diabetes, hypertension and other diseases.

Significant compounds submitted for regulatory approval include Exforge and Tekturna for hypertension, Galvus for diabetes, Tasigna for cancer and Lucentis for eye disease.

Dr Daniel Vasella, chairman and chief executive officer of Novartis, said: “I am pleased that our sustained focus on innovation and drive to address unmet clinical needs have enabled us to further strengthen our pipeline and file several new drugs for regulatory review over the past 12 months.”

He added that the company would launch a number of novel pharmaceuticals over the next two years and continue with forceful investment into research and development and the pursuit of collaborative agreements with other firms.

Lucentis received a positive opinion from the European Union’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use for the treatment of neovascular macular degeneration, with a European Commission decision on the compound due in two to three months.