Recordati announces that its subsidiary Bouchara Recordati has launched Zanextra (lercanidipine + enalapril), its new antihypertensive treatment, in France, the largest market for lercanidipine worldwide. This new specialty is already available in Germany, Australia, Ireland, Finland, Denmark, Greece, South Africa and in the Netherlands.

Fixed combinations of more than one antihypertensive agent will play a significant and increasing role in the future hypertension market. The international guidelines for the treatment of hypertension (CHMP Guideline on clinical investigation of medicinal products in the treatment of hypertension; January 22, 2009) establish new aggressive targets for blood pressure control in order to minimize the risk of severe cardiovascular events. Most hypertensive patients, especially those with other associated risk factors, require multiple therapies using more than one drug to keep their blood pressure at desired levels. Large clinical outcome trials show that cardiovascular events are drastically reduced by using modern antihypertensive drug combinations (such as those belonging to the calcium channel blocker and ACE inhibitor classes) as opposed to using older treatments.

These findings confirm the usefulness of our new treatment which combines a last generation calcium channel blocker, lercanidipine, with a widely prescribed ACE inhibitor. The efficacy and tolerability of the combined dosages of the drugs have been clinically proven. The advantages of fixed combinations, as opposed to the administration of separate treatments, are significant. The administration of a single pill, in patients who often take a number of different medicines every day, increases compliance, an extremely important factor in chronic treatments aimed at reducing and preventing cardiovascular risk. Furthermore, the cost of therapy is lower, an important point for the containment of pharmaceutical expenditure.

"The launch of Zanextra in France, the largest market for lercanidipine, is an important event for the growth of our group," stated Giovanni Recordati, chairman and CEO. "We are confident that the excellent therapeutic characteristics of this new specialty and the quality of our French medical representatives, which has been recognized by doctors in France, will ensure the success of Zanextra."