May 31, 2008
Major independent trial demonstrates significant anticancer benefit of Zometa® in women with early-stage breast cancer
- Zometa when added to hormone therapy, following surgery, significantly reduced the risk of cancer returning or death by 36% beyond clinical benefits achieved with hormone therapy alone[1]
- Findings may allow clinicians to improve standard of care for premenopausal women diagnosed with hormone-sensitive, early-stage breast cancer
- These are the first data from a large clinical program exploring the direct anticancer effect of Zometa in breast, lung and prostate cancer
May 26, 2008
Extavia® approved in European Union for treatment of multiple sclerosis, first in planned portfolio of therapies from Novartis
- Extavia is Novartis brand for interferon beta-1b - an established therapy with more than 700,000 patient-years' experience to date[1]
- Launch of Extavia for early and relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) planned for US and Europe in first half of 2009
- Novartis committed to MS through extensive research and development programs, including novel oral therapy FTY720 currently in Phase III trials
- MS, a devastating disease causing progressive disability, affects an estimated 2.5 million people worldwide, including many young adults[2]
May 19, 2008
RAD001 more than doubles time without tumor growth after failure of standard treatment in patients with advanced kidney cancer
- RECORD-1 trial shows RAD001 reduces risk of disease progression by 70%
- RAD001 is first and only drug to show significant benefit after failure of approved therapies Sutent® or Nexavar®,** with potential to address unmet medical need
- Once-daily oral RAD001 directly targets and continuously inhibits mTOR, a protein that controls tumor cell division and blood vessel growth
- RAD001 is currently being studied in multiple types of cancer including neuroendocrine, breast, gastric, lung, and lymphoma
May 15, 2008
Strength and innovation of Novartis Oncology products and pipeline with potential to improve patient treatment demonstrated by more than 170 abstracts at ASCO annual meeting
- Unprecedented amount of research reflects depth and breadth of collaboration with investigators worldwide to develop new treatments for diverse forms of cancer
- Plenary session to highlight impact of Zometa®, the leading IV bisphosphonate, on relapse rate of patients with early-stage breast cancer
- Four oral sessions to feature RAD001, first oral once-daily continuous inhibitor of mTOR, including first results of RECORD-1 study in renal cell carcinoma
- Updated Phase II results with Tasigna® in Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia to be presented
May 15, 2008
New data show Tekturna HCT® is twice as effective at reducing blood pressure than the diuretic HCT alone
- Recently launched in the US, Tekturna HCT is a single-tablet combination of Tekturna®[*] and the diuretic HCT for the treatment of high blood pressure[1]
- Both Tekturna HCT and Tekturna provide effective blood pressure lowering with good tolerability[1,2,3]
- Tekturna, first-in-class direct renin inhibitor, provides blood pressure reductions that last beyond 24 hours[2,4]
May 14, 2008
In a Phase II study, Novartis Meningitis B vaccine has potential to produce a protective immune response in infants[1], the age group most at risk
- Data show Novartis Meningitis B (MenB) vaccine has potential to be first vaccine to provide broad protection to infants against meningococcal B infections
- The meningococcal B strain causes 72% of meningococcal disease in Europe and is a major cause of the disease in other regions of the world
- Novartis MenB vaccine and Novartis Menveo® (MenACWY-CRM) vaccine on track to establish strong portfolio of meningitis vaccines
May 14, 2008
Significant blood pressure reductions seen in difficult-to-treat, black patients receiving Exforge®-based therapy[1]
- Study sub-group with severe high blood pressure shows largest blood pressure drop to date in an Exforge clinical trial[2,3,4]
- After only two weeks, Exforge delivered significantly greater reductions in blood pressure than amlodipine alone[1]
- 20 mmHg decrease in systolic blood pressure halves risk of death from heart disease or stroke[5]
May 06, 2008
Novartis Menveo® vaccine shows superior immune response against four types of meningitis disease in pivotal phase III trial
- First Phase III, head-to-head data show Menveo may offer greater protection for adolescents compared to Menactra*
- Novartis expects Menveo to be first quadrivalent meningococcal vaccine to protect from early infancy through adulthood
- More than 8 million infants and adolescents in the US and a significant number of children and travellers globally could benefit from Menveo[1]
April 28, 2008
Breakthrough technique pioneered at Novartis research institute restores light sensitivity in damaged retinas
- The Friedrich Miescher Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation (FMI) announces a breakthrough technique that restores light sensitivity to previously unresponsive retinas
- Study published in the April 27 online issue of Nature Neuroscience shows that the new technique enabled blind mice to successfully perform visually guided behavioral tasks, an unprecedented result that opens the way for clinical trials in humans
- The approach pioneered at FMI could be an alternative to surgical transplantation of electrode arrays for the millions affected by blindness as a result of retinitis pigmentosa and late-stage macular degeneration
April 23, 2008
Novartis announces 20% average reduction in price of malaria drug Coartem® to further accelerate access in malaria-endemic regions
- Malaria affects 300 to 500 million people every year and is the biggest killer of children in Africa - every 30 seconds a child dies of malaria[1],[2]
- Coartem, a highly-effective artemisinin-based fixed-dose combination, produces cure rates up to 95%[3],[4]
- Since 2001, Novartis has provided more than 160 million treatments without profit to those most in need
- Price reduction made possible through efficiency gains in producing Coartem
