"Swissmedic will review the application in the rolling procedure. Pfizer can submit the latest data continuously without having to wait for the conclusive results from the clinical studies," the watchdog said on its website.
In January 2020, Novartis struck a deal with the National Health Service to use its data to find patients at risk of heart disease for whom conventional treatment had failed. They are due to get Leqvio, which targets "bad cholesterol" that can cause heart attacks and strokes.
"With the impact of COVID in the UK, recruitment has been challenging," said John Tsai, Novartis's head of drug development, adding that recruitment is now "starting to get back on track".
At $2 billion (1.7 billion euros), the bottom line fell 5.0 percent year-on-year in January-March, even as revenues grew 1.0 percent, to $12.4 billion.
The drug, known generically as canakinumab and long approved to treat juvenile arthritis and rare Mediterranean fever, last year failed to help patients suffering from COVID-19 respiratory distress.
While the results were disappointing, "these data give us valuable insights into IL-1 inhibition," said John Tsai.
The canakinumab development program continues with two phase III non-small cell lung cancer clinical trials ongoing in first-line and adjuvant settings.
Novartis Technical Operations is currently exploring ways in which we can collaborate with our partners in the industry.
We are currently in discussions with several companies with a view to supporting the manufacturing of vaccines and components for tests for COVID-19, and we will share details as soon as possible.
Novartis said the acquisition added two new clinical stage programs to its neuroscience portfolio, one for schizophrenia and the other for movement disorders.