Recordati: lercanidipine N.D.A. filed in the U.S.
Milan, 2 October 2001
Recordati announced the filing today of the New Drug Application
(NDA) with the Food and Drug Administration for lercanidipine, a
calcium channel blocker discovered and developed by Recordati,
indicated in the treatment of hypertension.
The NDA was filed by Forest Laboratories (NYSE:FRX), Recordati's
licensee for the U.S. market, with which Recordati collaborated in
the preparation of the dossier. The F.D.A. technically requires
about one year for the review of applications similar to that for
lercanidipine.
The U.S. pharmaceutical market represents about 40% of the world
total pharmaceutical market. Hypertension is a widespread condition
which affects over 50 million Americans. Antihypertensives are one
of the main segments of this market with annual sales of over 12
billion dollars. Lercanidipine belongs to one of the most
prescribed classes of antihypertensive drugs.
Howard Solomon, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Forest
Laboratories stated, "Lercanidipine has certain distinct
characteristics which we believe will enable it to achieve a
significant position in the hypertension market. Our partnership
with Recordati is another of the highly successful partnerships we
have established with specialized, innovative companies in Europe
who need a strong marketing partner in the United States."
"We are very pleased to have reached such an important stage in
the international development of lercanidipine" - declared Giovanni
Recordati, Chairman - "To date our proprietary drug is approved in
34 countries, is on the market in 28 of these and has been filed
for approval in a further 45, including the U.S.A. which is the
world largest pharmaceutical market. Forest Laboratories, a very
successful company on the U.S. market, has proven to be an
excellent partner and has also very competently handled the
preparation phase of the NDA for our drug."
Recordati, established in 1926, is a European pharmaceutical
group, listed on the Italian Stock Exchange (Reuters RECI.MI,
Bloomberg REC IM, ISIN IT 0003074447), dedicated to the research,
development, manufacturing and marketing of pharmaceuticals and
pharmaceutical chemicals, with headquarters in Milan, Italy and
operating subsidiaries in France, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and
the United States.
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