Italy’s Recordati was won approval in Germany for Zanitek, a fixed-dose combination product of its calcium antagonist lercanidipine and the ACE inhibitor enalapril that is due to be rolled out in Europe during 2007.

In a statement, Recordati said the new product answered a need for combination therapies to help patients improve control of their hypertension. Many patients require more than one drug to keep their blood pressure down, and there are advantages to providing dual therapy in a single pill as it reduces the number of tablets patients need to take and improves compliance.

Germany will acts as the reference member state for European approval under the mutual recognition process.

Meanwhile, Recordati presented its interim results yesterday, showing that first half revenues advanced 6% to 311 million euros, with Zanidip (lercanidipine) contributing 90 million, or around 30% of overall pharmaceutical turnover. Group operating profit rose 15% to 64 million euros.

Giovanni Recordati, the firm’s chief executive, said with lercanidipine now on the market for several years, the importance of the Zanitek line extension, ‘a modern drug which meets the needs of both patients and medical practitioners, cannot be underestimated’.