Preliminary findings from Novartis AG´s 59-patient phase II study has suggested Glivec (generically imatinib) provided a treatment benefit in key measures used to monitor the progression of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), a rare heart and lung condition, the company said.

But Glivec did not reach statistical significance in its main target in the study, which was improvement in the six-minute walk test - in which the patient tries to walk as far as possible in six minutes - Novartis stated.

The market for pulmonary hypertension drugs is currently dominated by Swiss biotech Actelion´s Tracleer, which generated $ 543 million dollars in the first half of this year. Other players are Gilead Sciences Inc with Letairis ($ 45 million dollars in 1H2008) and potentially Pfizer Inc, although its candidate Thelin has yet to be approved.

Plans for further research into the potential of Glivec in PAH will be announced at a later date, Novartis added.

Glivec/Gleevec had sales of $ 1.83 billion dollars in the first half of 2008.