Actelion Ltd , Europe's biggest biotech firm, said on Tuesday that Health Canada had granted a notice of compliance for Uptravi, a new pulmonary arterial hypertension medicine.

The approval is "a major milestone", Chief Executive Jean-Paul Clozel said in a statement, adding that the company is working to make the drug available to patients in Canada "as soon as possible".

Analysts have said Uptravi could reap more than $1 billion in global sales annually at its peak.

(Reporting by Joshua Franklin; editing by Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi)