NOVARTIS - Tekturna: ALTITUDE study in high risk hypertensive patients TERMINATED
NVS announced the termination of large PhIII study (ALTITUDE) due to higher rate of adverse events and no benefits observed for patients taking Tekturna in addition to ACE or ARB inhibitors. Post this announcement, NVS will cease promotion of Tekturna/Tekturna products in combination with ACE inhibitors/ARB inhibitors. The event should more or less kill Tekturna commercial potential as approximately 50% of the Tekturna use in the US and about 20-50% in the other countries is in combination with an ACE/ARB inhibitor. With Diovan patent expiry around the corner, Tekturna growth as such was going to be under pressure and with this announcement, we see a death of Tekturna commercial potential. Tekturna will continue to be promoted as a monotherapy and as a dual and triple combination with calcium channel antagonist and HCT, but the image is tainted now and we see the sales volume becoming negligible.
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