First Market For Takeda's Candesartan Will Be UK

Takeda's angiotensin II receptor antagonist candesartan cilexetil willbe launched in the UK, its first world market, within the next few months, according to Yoshihiro Narai, general manager for the international division at Takeda. The product will also be the first to be self-marketed by Takeda's Takeda UK subsidiary, which was formed in April.

Candesartan will be marketed in the UK as Amias, while its trade name in other countries will be Blopress. It was approved by the UK Medicines Control Agency in April and is also near approval elsewhere in the European Union. A dossier has also been filed for the product in the USA.

Hywel Evans, managing director of Takeda UK, said that the company is in negotiations with the Department of Health regarding the price of candesartan, but that he expected it to be in-line with the other AIIRAs on the UK market, namely Merck & Co's (losartan), Novartis' Diovan (valsartan) and most recently Sanofi/Bristol-Myers Squibb's Aprovel (irbesartan; Marketletter September 29).