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| Datum : | 15.05.2014 |
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World Hypertension Day 2014: Daiichi Sankyo "Makes Your Heart Feel Good!" with a pan-European charity initiative |
| Meldung : | Munich (ots) - - Each year, May 17th is World Hypertension Day (WHD). The 2014 theme is "Know your Blood Pressure". - WHD helps to raise awareness of hypertension, a "silent killer" responsible for an estimated 9.4 million deaths worldwide every year [1]. - To support WHD 2014, Daiichi Sankyo is rolling out a "Make Your Heart Feel Good!" charity initiative. - This long-term initiative supports "Little Hearts" by raising funds for orphaned Ukrainian and Russian children and "Big Hearts" by educating people on the importance of well controlled blood pressure and encouraging them to have their blood pressure checked. As a major player in cardiovascular diseases, Daiichi Sankyo Europe is dedicated to supporting heart health. This is why Daiichi Sankyo hs launched the "Make Your Heart Feel Good!" initiative. The initiative has two goals; the first is to support the charity "Kleine Herzen" ("Little Hearts") which helps orphaned children in Eastern Europe. All employees throughout Europe have been asked to support this initiative and to donate to the "Little Hearts" charity. Each is doubled by the company. Pascale Vayer, chairwoman of "Little Hearts" explains how this support improves the children's quality of life: "In cooperation with Daiichi Sankyo Europe, "Little Hearts" is working on a new project, which will transform the Russian orphanage/boarding school of Vorontsovo in the Pskov Region into smaller, family-like homes. The children's project, called "My Family, My Hope", is based on the four principles of the SOS Children's Villages: Every child needs a mother and grows up most naturally with brothers and sisters in a house within a village community." This project will benefit 50 disabled orphans enabling them to live in a family-like environment based on love, welfare, trust, respect, education and care. Daiichi Sankyo Europe combines the support for "Little Hearts" with an awareness campaign to protect "Big Hearts". The campaign will encourage people to remember to look after themselves and have their blood pressure measured in an effort to improve their heart health. "Through this initiative we aim to raise awareness of the importance of knowing your own blood pressure, to help prevent strokes, heart attacks and atrial fibrillation. We would like to encourage people to get their blood pressure taken as a first step to protecting their hearts," explains Dr. Juan-Carlos Jaramillo, Head of Market Access Daiichi Sankyo Europe. The initiative "Make Your Heart Feel Good!" was launched internally at Daiichi Sankyo Europe in March and has now also been rolled-out externally. The project "My Family, My Hope", supported by Daiichi Sankyo, has already started work in cooperation with SOS Children's Village. The work is divided into three steps: Selection of care-givers according to their profile and experience, preparation of the selected care-givers for their new role as a "mother" through a series of seminars organized by SOS Children's Village, and transformation of the four existing dormitories into four family apartments. The finalization of the project is scheduled for the beginning of the next school year. Healthy Blood Pressure for a Healthy Heart Clinical trials in large numbers of patients show that lowering blood pressure significantly reduces the likelihood of having a heart attack, severe kidney damage, or a stroke. However, in Europe, less than 50% of treated hypertensive patients achieve target blood pressure control (<140/90 mmHg) [2]. High blood pressure is the main cause of stroke [3]. Furthermore, an irregular atrial heart rhythm - a condition called atrial fibrillation - is present in about one out of five strokes [4]. Evidence has continued to grow that in the vast majority of hypertensive patients, effective blood pressure control can only be achieved by combination of at least two antihypertensive drugs [5]. Where possible, the use of fixed-dose (or single pill) combinations should be favoured, as simplification of treatment carries advantages for compliance to treatment [5]. To support physicians and help patients achieve target blood pressure goals to ultimately lower their risk for serious cardiovascular events, Daiichi Sankyo Europe continues to investigate the benefits of blood pressure lowering, single pill fixed-dose combinations (FDC). Daiichi Sankyo Europe's Sevikar® is a fixed-dose combination of olmesartan and amlodipine: Sevikar® delivers powerful blood pressure lowering action through a convenient once-daily, single pill fixed-dose combination. In patients whose blood pressure is not adequately controlled on olmesartan and amlodipine taken as dual-component combination, a change to the triple-component combination Sevikar HCT® may be considered. Sevikar HCT® is a single pill that contains the three antihypertensive agents olmesartan, amlodipine and hydrochlorothiazide (HCT). NOTES TO EDITORS About Sevikar® Sevikar is a fixed-dose combination of olmesartan and amlodipine: [6]. * Olmesartan is an angiotensin II receptor antagonist or blocker (ARB) which works by inhibiting the action of the RAS by blocking the action of a hormone called angiotensin-II. Angiotensin-II causes blood vessels to narrow (vasoconstriction) and leads to the production of another hormone called aldosterone being responsible for fluid retention. By preventing the action of angiotensin-II, olmesartan widens blood vessels and reduces fluid in the blood, lowering the blood pressure. * Amlodipine is a long-acting calcium channel blocker indicated to reduce blood pressure. Amlodipine acts by relaxing the smooth muscles in artery walls decreasing total peripheral resistance and hence reducing blood pressure. Sevikar delivers effective blood pressure lowering action through a convenient once-daily, single pill fixed-dose combination, allowing the majority of patients to reach their target blood pressure. About Daiichi Sankyo Daiichi Sankyo Group is dedicated to the creation and supply of innovative pharmaceutical products to address the diversified, unmet medical needs of patients in both mature and emerging markets. While maintaining its portfolio of marketed pharmaceuticals for hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and bacterial infections, the Group is engaged in the development of treatments for thrombotic disorders and focused on the discovery of novel oncology and cardiovascular-metabolic therapies. Furthermore, the Daiichi Sankyo Group has created a "Hybrid Business Model," which will respond to market and customer diversity and optimise growth opportunities across the value chain. For more information, please visit: www.daiichisankyo.com About Daiichi Sankyo Europe Daiichi Sankyo's European base is located in Munich and has affiliates in 12 European countries in addition to a global manufacturing site located in Pfaffenhofen, Germany. For more information, please visit: www.daiichi-sankyo.eu Forward-looking statements This press release contains forward-looking statements and information about future developments in the sector, and the legal and business conditions of Daiichi Sankyo Europe GmbH. Such forward-looking statements are uncertain and are subject at all times to the risks of change, particularly to the usual risks faced by a global pharmaceutical company, including the impact of the prices for products and raw materials, medication safety, changes in exchange rates, government regulations, employee relations, taxes, political instability and terrorism as well as the results of independent demands and governmental inquiries that affect the affairs of the company. All forward-looking statements contained in this release hold true as of the date of publication. They do not represent any guarantee of future performance. Actual events and developments could differ materially from the forward-looking statements that are explicitly expressed or implied in these statements. Daiichi Sankyo Europe GmbH assumes no responsibility for the updating of such forward-looking statements about future developments of the sector, legal and business conditions and the company. References: 1. World Health Organization. A global brief on hypertension: silent killer, global public health crisis. World Health Day 2013. Report, 1-39. 2013. Geneva, Switzerland, World Health Organization. 2. Wang YR, Alexander GC, Stafford RS, Outpatient Hypertension Treatment. Treatment Intensification, and Control in Western Europe and the United States. Arch Intern Med 2007; 167: 141-7. 3. O'Donnell MJ, Xavier D, Liu L et al; INTERSTROKE Investigators. Risk factors for ischaemic and intracerebral haemorrhagic stroke in 22 countries (the INTERSTROKE study): a case-control study. Lancet 2010; 376: 112-23. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(10)60834-3. 4. Camm AJ, Kirchhof P, Lip GYH et al; The Task Force for the management of atrial fibrillation of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC). Guidelines for the management of atrial fibrillation. Eur Heart J 2010; 31: 2369-429. doi:10.1093 /eurheartj/ehq278. 5. Mancia G, Fagard R, Narkiewicz K et al; The Task Force for the management of arterial hypertension of the European Society of Hypertension (ESH) and of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC). J Hypertens 2013; 31: 1281-357. 6. Daiichi Sankyo Europe GmbH. Sevikar Summary of Product Characteristics 2012. Originaltext: DAIICHI SANKYO EUROPE GmbH digital press kits: http://www.presseportal.de/pm/62920 press kits via RSS: http://www.presseportal.de/rss/pm_62920.rss2 Contact: Product Communications Lydia Worms Phone +49 89 7808 751 lydia.worms@daiichi-sankyo.eu Product Communications Daria Munsel Phone +49 89 7808 728 daria.munsel@daiichi-sankyo.eu Corporate Communications Christina Werthner Phone +49 89 7808 442 christina.werthner@daiichi-sankyo.eu |
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