With Its Hypertension Franchise in Crisis, Novartis Restructures

On Jan. 9 at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference, amid a glowing account of science-based innovation at Novartis AG, CEO Joseph Jimenez ticked off some problems at the company, and mentioned the termination of the ALTITUDE study. That study looked at use of the anti-hypertensive Tekturna (aliskiren) in combination with the standard of care in diabetic patients who are renal-impaired. The study was halted because of adverse events in the aliskiren arms.

Four days later, Novartis announced the elimination of 1,960 jobs at its U.S. General Medicines division, in part because of the impending loss of exclusivity for Diovan (valsartan), the company’s flagship antihypertensive, and also because of expected negative impact on sales of Tekturna