Novartis says Japan study shows Diovan benefits

ZURICH, April 27 (Reuters) - Novartis AG's (NOVN.VX) blood pressure drug Diovan cut incidence of strokes and cardiovascular events by about 40 percent in an independent Japanese study, the Swiss drugmaker said on Friday.

New findings from the Jikei Heart Study, published Friday in The Lancet, showed Diovan produced a 39 percent reduction in cardiovascular events and a 40 percent cut in strokes.

The study compared Diovan when added to a conventional non-angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) versus the non-ARB therapy alone.

The Jikei study involved some 3,000 people aged 20 to 79 with high blood pressure, ischemic heart disease or congestive heart failure.

((Reporting by Sam Cage, editing by Erica Billingham;

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