Astra's Atacand Reaches First Market

Astra Pharmaceuticals has introduced its once-daily antihypertensiveAtacand (candesartan) in Sweden, its first market. Launches are also imminent in several other European countries.

According to a spokesman for the company, Atacand, an angiotensin II receptor antagonist which is licensed from the Japanese firm Takeda, will be priced at 510 Swedish kroner ($67.27) for 98 x 4mg tablets, the suggested starting dose. The 8mg maintenance dose will be priced at a 20% discount to Merck & Co's Cozaar (losartan), at 578.5 kroner for 98 tablets, while the 16mg tablets will be priced equivalently to Cozaar at 714.5 kroner for 98 tablets.

First Approval For Combo Drug Meantime, Astra and Hoechst Marion Roussel have received their first approval, also in Sweden, for a combination therapy for the treatment of essential hypertension. The drug combines Astra's calcium channel blocker felodipine and HMR's ACE inhibitor ramipril.