World Hypertension Day 2014: Daiichi Sankyo "Makes Your Heart Feel Good!" with a pan-European charity initiative

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.

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