China Pharma Holdings, Inc. ("China Pharma") (OTC Bulletin Board: CPHI), which develops, manufactures, and markets specialty pharmaceutical products in China, announced today that the company has initiated clinical trials for the generic version of the leading hypertension drug Candesartan.

The clinical trials for this product are anticipated to require approximately 18 months to complete. The sartan group of drugs, used as front- line therapy in the treatment of hypertension, are usually well-tolerated, and have a high safety record. Candesartan was discovered and originally synthesized by the Japanese firm, Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited and jointly developed by the same company with AstraZeneca. Worldwide sales for 2007 exceeded $2.5 billion(1). In China, Candesartan is listed on the National Basic Medical Insurance Drug List, enabling patient reimbursement.

China Pharma's CEO and president, Ms Zhilin Li, commented, ''In China today, nearly 60% of all urban adults aged 65 years and over suffer from hypertension(2). Moreover, due to the aging of the population and changes in lifestyle, the urban prevalence of hypertension has been predicted to grow to 100 million by 2011(2). Even in 2004, sales in China of anti-hypertension drugs exceeded CNY 10 billion ($1.2 billion, Dec. 2004), exhibiting a market growth of over 30% year on year, and accounting for 22% of all cardiovascular system drugs sold in China(3). Hypertension is a serious problem and is linked to an increased incidence of other diseases, particularly brain edema, coronary heart disease and diabetes…