Novartis blood pressure drug gets EC approval

Novartis has announced that the European Commission (EC) has granted approval to its single-pill treatment for patients with high blood pressure, Exforge.

Exforge is indicated for the treatment of hypertension in patients whose blood pressure is not sufficiently controlled with treatment by amlodipine or valsartan on their own. Exforge is a combination of Diovan (valsartan) and Norvasc (amlodipine besylate) in a single pill.

Novartis reports that the delivery of two compounds in a single pill can improve patient compliance with treatment and thus reduce the risk of hospitalisation and outpatient resources, saving on medical costs.

Professior Rainer Dusing, internist at the Medizinische Unversitats-Poliklinik at the University of Bonn, commented that untreated high blood pressure can lead to a number of complications, including heart attacks, strokes, organ failure and death.

“The combination of these two well-known and powerful antihypertensive medications in one tablet will help patients reach and maintain their blood pressure goal with favourable tolerability.”

Exforge received approval from the Food and Drug Administration in the US last month, following clinical trials where the drug assisted nine out of ten patients achieve their cholesterol goal.

The company received a positive opinion from the EC a month earlier and stated plans to make the drug available in the EU in the first half of 2007.