Newly tense Chinese gobble up blood pressure drugs

SHANGHAI, Oct 11 (Reuters) Sales in China for drugs to treat hypertension are expected to nearly double to more than dollar 800 million by 2010 as more Chinese are exposed to risk factors such as obesity, a US research firm said.

The Chinese market for blood pressure treatment drugs, such as Pfizer Inc.'s Norvasc and Novartis AG's Diovan, was worth about dollar 440 million last year, roughly 4 per cent of the US market, market research firm Decision Resources said in a report released yesterday.

Diagnosis rates for hypertension would rise to 41 percent in 2010 from 33 percent last year, boosted by Beijing's health education efforts, the firm said.

According to a recent study, nearly one in every five people in China is overweight or obese, partly due to a shift in lifestyle as more Chinese move to cities from rural areas, the report added.

About 10 million children from seven to 18 were overweight in 2000, up 28 times from 1985, a study published in the British Medical Journal in August showed.

China's booming market for Western medicines will grow to dollar 25 billion by 2010, virtually doubling from billion last year, according to Boston Consulting Group.

REUTERS SAM BST1145