25 September 2015 - Novartis announced today that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has adopted a positive opinion for Entresto (sacubitril/valsartan), marking an important milestone towards becoming available in the EU. Pending final approval by the European Commission (EC) Entresto, previously known as LCZ696, will be available for the treatment of adult patients with symptomatic chronic heart failure and reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF).

"With the poor prognosis heart failure patients face - only half will be alive 5 years from diagnosis - the CHMP's endorsement of Entresto brings hope for HFrEF patients in Europe," said David Epstein, Division Head, Novartis Pharmaceuticals. "Already we're hearing about the benefits US doctors and HFrEF patients are experiencing with Entresto and hope to receive a final green-light from the EC soon."

The CHMP's decision, which follows previous US and Swiss approvals, is based on results from the 8,442-patient PARADIGM-HF study in patients with HFrEF, which was stopped early when it was shown Entresto significantly reduced the risk of cardiovascular death versus ACE-inhibitor enalapril. At the end of the study patients who were given Entresto were more likely to be alive and less likely to have been hospitalized for heart failure than those given enalapril. Analysis of safety data showed that Entresto had a similar tolerability profile to enalapril.

For more details, go to: https://www.novartis.com/news/media-releases/novartis-new-heart-failure-medicine-entrestotm-recommended-chmp-eu-approval