Sandoz Canada launches PrSandoz® Olmesartan for the treatment of high blood pressure
- Now available in Canada, PrSandoz® Olmesartan is designed to treat mild to moderate essential hypertension
- PrSandoz® Olmesartan is a generic version of OLMETEC*
- Hypertension affects approximately 7.5 million Canadians
Boucherville, Quebec, May 2nd, 2017 – Today, Sandoz Canada announced the launch of PrSandoz® Olmesartan (olmesartan medoxomil), a generic version of OLMETEC*, for the treatment of mild to moderate essential hypertension**. This follows the expiry, on April 29, 2017, of market exclusivity for OLMETEC*, the brand-name version.
“We are delighted to be making a generic version of olmesartan medoxomil available to patients in Canada with high blood pressure,” says Martin Arès, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Generics and Specialty Products. “This is in keeping with our aspiration of improving patient access to medicines and optimizing costs for both patients and the healthcare system in Canada.”
Hypertension is the persistent elevation of blood pressure and is a leading global risk factor for disease1, causing 9.4 million deaths a year due to complications2. In Canada, approximately 7.5 million people have hypertension3.
High blood pressure increases the workload of the heart and arteries. If this condition continues for a long time, damage to the blood vessels of the brain, heart, and kidneys can occur, and may eventually result in stroke, or heart or kidney failure. High blood pressure also increases the risk of heart attacks. Reducing your blood pressure decreases your risk of developing these illnesses.
Olmesartan belongs to a class of medications called angiotensin II receptor blockers. It is used to reduce blood pressure by inhibiting the actions of an hormone (angiotensin II) that causes blood vessels to constrict.
PrSandoz® Olmesartan is offered in 20 mg and 40 mg formulations, available in blister packs of 30 tablets and bottles of 100 tablets. The usual recommended starting dose of PrSandoz® Olmesartan for adult patients is 20 mg once daily when used as monotherapy in patients who are not volume depleted. For patients requiring further reduction in blood pressure after two weeks of therapy, the dose of PrSandoz® Olmesartan may be increased to 40 mg.
PrSandoz® Olmesartan is now available by prescription in most pharmacies in Canada.
* Olmetec is a registered trademark.
* Hypertension is called essential when its origin is unknown
® Registered trademark owned or used under license by Sandoz Canada Inc.
Disclaimer
The foregoing release contains forward-looking statements that can be identified by words such as “optimizing costs” or similar terms, or regarding potential future revenues from PrSandoz® Olmesartan. You should not place undue reliance on these statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on the current beliefs and expectations of management regarding future events, and are subject to significant known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. There can be no guarantee that PrSandoz® Olmesartan will be submitted or approved for any additional indications or labelling in any market, or at any time. In particular, management’s expectations regarding PrSandoz® Olmesartan could be affected by, among other things, the uncertainties inherent in research and development, including unexpected clinical trial results and additional analysis of existing clinical data; unexpected regulatory actions or delays or government regulation generally; the company’s ability to obtain or maintain proprietary intellectual property protection; general economic and industry conditions; global trends toward health care cost containment, including ongoing pricing pressures; unexpected manufacturing issues, and other risks and factors referred to in Novartis AG’s current Form 20-F on file with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Sandoz is providing the information in this press release as of this date and does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
About Sandoz
Sandoz Canada is part of Sandoz International GmbH and a subsidiary of Swiss multinational Novartis AG, the world’s second largest producer of generic drugs. A leader in its field, Sandoz Canada develops, manufactures, markets and distributes a broad line of generic, biosimilar, consumer and specialty products.
Sandoz Global’s portfolio consists of approximately 1000 molecules, covering all major therapeutic areas, and accounted for 2016 sales of USD 10.1 billion. In 2016, our products reached more than 500 million patients and we aspire to reach one billion. Sandoz is headquartered in Holzkirchen, in Germany’s Greater Munich area.
Sandoz is on Twitter. Sign up to follow @Sandoz_global at http://twitter.com/Sandoz_Global.
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References
1. Lim SS et al., Lancet 2012; 380 (9859):2224–60; WHO data
2. World Health Organization (WHO). A global brief on hypertension. WHO 2013; Causes of Death 2008 [online database]. Geneva, (http//www.who.int/healthinfo/global_burden_disease/cod_2008_sources_methods.pdf);
3. Hypertension in Canada. HSFC/CIHR Chair in Hypertension Prevention and Control and Hypertension Canada; 2016 (http://www.hypertensiontalk.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/HTN-Fact-Shee...)
For further information:
Sandoz Canada Inc. Sandoz Global Communications
Annick Lambert Chris Lewis
+1 450 641 4903 ext. 2964 +49 8024 476 1906