Company initiated clinical trials for leading hypertension drug in China
HAIKOU CITY, China, Feb. 11 /PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ -- China Pharma Holdings, Inc. ("China Pharma") (OTC Bulletin Board: CPHI), which develops, manufactures, and markets specialty pharmaceutical products in China, announced today that the company has initiated clinical trials for the generic version of the leading hypertension drug Candesartan.
The clinical trials for this product are anticipated to require approximately 18 months to complete. The sartan group of drugs, used as front-line therapy in the treatment of hypertension, are usually well-tolerated, and have a high safety record. Candesartan was discovered and originally synthesized by the Japanese firm, Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited and jointly developed by the same company with AstraZeneca. Worldwide sales for 2007 exceeded $2.5 billion(1). In China, Candesartan is listed on the National Basic Medical Insurance Drug List, enabling patient reimbursement.
China Pharma’s CEO and president, Ms Zhilin Li, commented, “In China today, nearly 60% of all urban adults aged 65 years and over suffer from hypertension(2). Moreover, due to the aging of the population and changes in lifestyle, the urban prevalence of hypertension has been predicted to grow to 100 million by 2011(2). Even in 2004, sales in China of anti-hypertension drugs exceeded CNY 10 billion ($1.2 billion, Dec. 2004), exhibiting a market growth of over 30% year on year, and accounting for 22% of all cardiovascular system drugs sold in China(3). Hypertension is a serious problem and is linked to an increased incidence of other diseases, particularly brain edema, coronary heart disease and diabetes. Candesartan is a well established hypertension drug and is known to be particularly suitable for heart failure and diabetic patients. Our R&D strategy is to enable us to provide more effective treatment for the high numbers of patients in China whose medication needs are seriously unmet so we are very happy that we will have this opportunity to provide better health for individuals suffering hypertension in China.”
About the drug. Candesartan lowers hypertension by inhibiting blood vessel constriction through blocking angiotensin II receptors.
About China Pharma Holdings, Inc.
China Pharma Holdings, Inc. is a specialty pharmaceutical company with rapidly growing profit that develops, manufactures, and markets treatments for a wide range of high incidence and high mortality conditions in China, including cardiovascular, CNS, infectious, and digestive diseases. The Company’s cost-effective, high margin business model is driven by market demand and supported by eight scalable GMP-certified product lines covering the major dosage forms. In addition, the Company has a broad and expanding distribution network across 30 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions. The Company is registered in Delaware, USA. Hainan Helpson
Bio- pharmaceutical Co., Ltd (Helpson), located in Haikou City, Hainan Province, China, is a wholly owned subsidiary of China Pharma Holdings, Inc. For more information about China Pharma Holdings, Inc., please visit http://www.chinapharmaholdings.com .
Safe Harbor Statement: Certain statements in this press release and oral statements made by China Pharma on its conference call in relation to this release, constitute forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any statements set forth above that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements, which may include, but are not limited to, such factors as unanticipated changes in product demand, increased competition, failure to obtain or maintain intellectual property protection, downturns in the Chinese economy, uncompetitive levels of research and development, failure to obtain regulatory approvals, and other information detailed from time to time in the Company’s filings and future filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements made herein speak only as of the date of this press release and the Company undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statement to conform the statement to actual results or changes in the company’s expectations.
(1) Source: (for year ended March 31 2008) Takeda Pharmaceutical Company
Ltd., Annual Report 2008.
(2) Source: Nature Reviews, Drug Discovery: 2008 May; 7 383-384. Susan
Ward. Demographic Factors in the Chinese Health-care Market
(3) Source: Southern Medical Economic Research Institute: 2006, Dec.
Sartan Drugs: Leaders in the Antihypertension Drug Market.(in Chinese)
From http://www.menet.com.cn
For more information, please contact:
China Pharma Holdings, Inc.
Diana Huang
Tel: +86-898-6681-1730
Email: hps@chinapharmaholdings.com
Or
The Ruth Group
Sara Ephraim
Tel: +1-646-536-7002
Email: sephraim@theruthgroup.com