Summary
It has taken a long, long time form oral renin inhibition to come along, and Novartis is seeking to target glomeruli on 5 continents. The South East Asian market is potentially huge for the treatment of hypertension and Japan has a long tradition of willingness to participate in the battle to lower blood pressure by all means pharmacological. Whilst there are still few data to demonstrate superiority of Direct Renin inhibition over ACE inhibition in long term outcomes, the field of hypertension treatment is still expanding, no doubt in part, driven by consumer demand for the newest agent, and the side-effects, real, important or otherwise of current agents often reported more in anecdote than evidence based format. Novartis has an important role in the area of Renin-Angiotensin System inhibition, and this new approval will do no harm to that reputation and market share.
Analysis
Approval in Japan opens the door for Novartis in the SE Asian market, which although partially stalled due to global economic trends, will recover and grow in the next 24-36 months. Rasilez and Diovan are not bad drugs, but the combo is untried and potentially best with difficulty, but a clevely played segued of on then thother may reap dividends for Novartis and other players in the RAS inhibition field.
