Bayer gets EU nod to widen use of lung drug Adempas

[March 31, 2014]  FRANKFURT (Reuters) — German drugmaker Bayer said on Monday it won approval in the European Union to widen the use of lung drug Adempas to two life-threatening forms of pulmonary hypertension.

The EU Commission cleared the use of the drug, also known as riociguat, for the treatment of chronic-thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) and pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH).

U.S. authorities approved the drug for the same uses in October.

Bayer counts Adempas among its most promising new drugs, predicting peak annual sales of more than 500 million euros ($688 million).

($1 = 0.7271 euros)

(Reporting by Ludwig Burger; editing by Christoph Steitz)

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