World Hypertension Day 2012: Daiichi Sankyo Europe Announces Patient Website Dedicated to Hypertension

Munich (ots/PRNewswire) -

**Not be used by UK media**

To mark this year's World Hypertension Day, Daiichi Sankyo Europe
has announced a website for patients offering more information about
hypertension management and treatment. http://www.hypertensioncare.eu
is now available to patients and physicians across Europe (excluding
the United Kingdom). The purpose of this educational website is to
help address the burden of hypertension across Europe and improve
compliance with lifestyle changes and medications.

The website supports this year's theme for World Hypertension Day;
Healthy Lifestyle - Healthy Blood Pressure, looking at how healthy
lifestyle choices can work alongside medication to lower blood
pressure. The website suggests seven ways in which patients can adapt
their lifestyle to reduce their blood pressure. These recommendations
include lowering salt intake, increasing fruit and vegetables in your
daily diet, lowering alcohol consumption, maintaining a healthy
weight, exercising regularly, quitting smoking and minimising stress
levels.

The content is also partially introduced by the "HypertensionCare
team", a team of 6 characters that are either involved in the
treatment of hypertension (including a GP and nurse) or have
hypertension themselves. In addition, the text content is supported
by animations, quizzes and videos, in which the characters of the
Hypertension Team play main parts. This unique feature provides
patients with advice from different healthcare professionals and
patients about aspects of hypertension management and treatment in an
interesting and informal way.

"This website demonstrates Daiichi Sankyo's continued commitment
to listening to the needs of patients and physicians, and offers
tools and services that provide them with added support when dealing
with their condition," says Reinhard Bauer, CEO of Daiichi Sankyo
Europe.

The latest Manhattan Research from 2011 shows that over 50% of
physicians across Europe recommend health websites to their
patients.[1] For that reason the patient website also provides a
great additional service opportunity for physicians to guide their
patients to this website and let them obtain information on high
blood pressure in an easy to understand language and format.

Worldwide, high blood pressure is estimated to cause 7.5 million
deaths per year, about 12.8% of the total of all deaths.[2] Despite
broad availability of anti-hypertensive treatments, currently less
than 50% of patients achieve the recommended blood pressure goal of
<140/90 mmHg in Europe.[3] The website aims to decrease the burden of
hypertension, through providing information on aspects of
hypertension management. It also focuses on physicians and patients
working effectively together to improve compliance.

Daiichi Sankyo's HypertensionCare franchise offers a range of
services and products, including this website, to help tackle the
burden of hypertension. Through these services Daiichi Sankyo hopes
to provide patients and physicians with the tools and educational
material to enable them to better address the obstacles faced in
reaching blood pressure target goals.

Examples of the services supported by Daiichi Sankyo include:

- A MAU test programme to facilitate early detection of 
microalbuminuria and
          help physicians to prevent organ damage and failure. 
(http://www.MAUtest.org)
        - The SHARE (Supporting Hypertension Awareness & Research 
Europe-wide) Programme
        - a collaborative initiative driven by leading European 
clinicians and scientists in
          the field of hypertension. SHARE has been established to 
provide greater insight and
          understanding into both the challenges faced by local 
healthcare practitioners and the
          rationale behind their choice of treatment. The programme 
is designed to encourage the
          sharing of best practice and practical solutions in 
hypertension to help physicians to
          overcome their local healthcare challenges. 
(http://www.share-hypertension.com)

About Daiichi Sankyo

The 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 optimize growth opportunities
across the value chain.

The company's world headquarters are in Tokyo. Its European base
is located in Munich. Daiichi Sankyo Europe has affiliates in 12
European countries in addition to a global manufacturing site located
in Pfaffenhofen, Germany.

For more information, please visit: http://www.daiichisankyo.comor
http://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) Manhattan Research, 2011, Taking the Pulse Europe study.
        2) World Health Organization (WHO). Global Health Observatory
(GHO), Raising
          Blood Pressure: Situation and Trends. Available at:
          http://www.who.int/gho/ncd/risk_factors/blood_pressure_prev
alence_text/en/index.html
          (last accessed April 2012).
        3) Pereira et al. Differences in prevalence, awareness, 
treatment and control of
          hypertension between developing and developed countries. J 
Hypertens 2009; 27:
          963_975.

Rückfragehinweis:
Contact: Lydia Worms, Phone +49-89-7808751, European Product PR
Senior Manager, [email protected]

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