Important news for  Solvay Pharmaceuticals’ fenofibrate franchise

The Solvay group welcomes on this World Day of Diabetes the promising results of the Fenofibrate Intervention and Event Lowering in Diabetes (FIELD) study, unveiled today at the annual congress of the American Heart Association in Dallas (United States). The study involved nearly 10,000 patients recruited from 63 sites and studied over an average of five years; it was the largest intervention study ever conducted for the prevention of cardiovascular disease in patients with type 2 diabetes.

We are very impressed by the skills and effort put into the study by the large group of independent investigators from Australia, New Zealand and Finland under the leadership of Professor Anthony Keech of the University of Sydney (Australia).

The FIELD study provides important data, as it shows evidence of the potential value of fenofibrate in patients with type 2 diabetes, in particular in patients without previous cardiovascular disease. This is the first time that a lipid lowering agent has been shown to reduce the risk of both macrovascular and microvascular events in a large clinical study in patients with type 2 diabetes. Of special interest are the observations suggesting that fenofibrate reduces diabetes-related kidney and eye disease. The product was well tolerated in this large clinical study. The wealth of data generated from the study will provide further guidance in the development of the fenofibrate franchise. 

Fenofibrate joined Solvay Pharmaceuticals’ portfolio of products when the Group acquired Fournier Pharma in July 2005. The product, sold under the trademarks Tricor® (by Abbott in the United States) and Lipanthyl® (in the rest of the world), is today Solvay Pharmaceuticals’ largest franchise.

SOLVAY PHARMACEUTICALS is the pharmaceuticals entity of Solvay.  It is a research driven pharmaceutical company that seeks to fulfil carefully selected, unmet medical needs in the therapeutic areas of cardio-metabolic, neuroscience, influenza vaccines, pancreatic enzymes, gastroenterology and men’s and women’s health. Solvay Pharmaceuticals employs about 13,000 people worldwide after the acquisition of Fournier Pharma in July 2005.

SOLVAY is an international chemicals and pharmaceuticals group with headquarters in Brussels. It is present in more than 50 countries and employs some 33,000 people in its Chemicals, Plastics and Pharmaceuticals activities. Including Fournier Pharma, its 2004 sales amounted to EUR 8.5 billion. Solvay is listed on the Euronext 100 index of top European companies. Details are available at www.solvay.com.

For further information please contact :

Martial Tardy , Corporate Press Officer
SOLVAY SA Headquarters
Tel: 32 2 509 72 30
Fax: 32 2 509 72 40
E-mail : martial.tardy@solvay.com

Roger Bickerstaffe , VP Communications
Solvay Pharmaceuticals
Tel: +31 (0) 294 477 274
Fax: +31 (0) 294 477 112
E-mail : roger.bickerstaffe@solvay.com

Puck Bossert , Director, Pharmaceuticals Communications
Solvay Pharmaceuticals
Tel: +31 294 47 74 69