First Launches For Roche's Posicor

Roche's new drug for the treatment of hypertension and angina pectorisPosicor (mibefradil) has been launched into its first markets. The drug debuted in Brazil on June 30, and has since been launched onto the US market (on July 21).

A spokeswoman for Roche said that Posicor has been priced at a comparable level to other leading calcium antagonists such as Pfizer's Norvasc (amlodipine). The average wholesale price in the USA is $123.65 for 100 x 50mg tablets and $213.97 for 100 x 100mg tablets.

Mibefradil is the first in a new class of antihypertensive drugs. It inhibits T-type calcium channels, found in vascular smooth muscle and the pacemaker centers of the heart, and has less activity at the more widely-distributed L-type channels, which are the target of other calcium antagonists. It is thought that this selective effect on T-type channels may confer some of mibefradil's unique properties.