SPEEDEL WELCOMES FDA APPROVAL OF SPP100 TEKTURNA.

(From Hugin)

Corporate news announcement processed and transmitted by Hugin ASA. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------- Basel/Switzerland and Bridgewater NJ/USA, 06 March 2007 Speedel (SWX: SPPN) welcomes today's announcement by Novartis that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved SPP100 (aliskiren, Tekturna[1]) to treat hypertension both as monotherapy and in combination with other anti-hypertensives. The approval was based on data from more than 6,400 patients with high blood pressure in numerous clinical trials. SPP100 is the first-in-class once daily oral direct renin inhibitor that Speedel successfully developed through Phase I and II clinical trials before Novartis exercised its license-back option in 2002. Dr. Alice Huxley, CEO, commented: "We are delighted that SPP100 has been approved in the US as the first in a new class of medicines for high blood pressure in over a decade. This is a wonderful example of a win-win partnership between big pharma and small biotech, and we are confident that Novartis will ensure the market success of Tekturna given the drug's profile and Novartis' position as the global leader in cardiovascular therapies." Dr. Huxley continued: "This approval validates Speedel's long standing commitment to renin inhibition as the potential gold standard therapy for treatment of hypertension and other related disorders. Hypertension is a leading cause of…