TUESDAY, March 16 (HealthDay News) -- The dual actions of the novel inhibitor LCZ696 provides additional lowering of blood pressure, compared to the angiotensin II receptor blocker valsartan, according to research published online March 16 in The Lancet. The findings were released to coincide with the Annual Scientific Session of the American College of Cardiology, held from March 14 to 16 in Atlanta.
Luis Miguel Ruilope, M.D., of the Hospital 12 de Octubre in Madrid, Spain, and colleagues randomized 1,328 patients, aged 18 to 75 years, with mild to moderate hypertension to two months of treatment in one of eight treatment arms: 100 mg, 200 mg or 400 mg of LCZ696; 80 mg, 160 mg or 320 mg of valsartan; 200 mg of AHU377; or placebo.
After eight weeks of treatment, the researchers found that the doses of LCZ696 showed significantly greater reductions in mean sitting diastolic blood pressure compared to the appropriate comparator doses of valsartan. The mean reduction in sitting diastolic blood pressure was significantly greater for 200 mg of LCZ696 compared to 160 mg of valsartan, and for 400 mg of LCZ696 compared to 320 mg of valsartan. In terms of adverse events, LCZ696 was well tolerated, with no serious drug-related adverse events occurring during the study period.
"Compared with valsartan, dual-acting LCZ696 provides complementary and fully additive reduction of blood pressure, which suggests that the drug holds promise for treatment of hypertension and cardiovascular disease," the authors write.
The study was sponsored by Novartis. Several authors reported financial relationships with Novartis, as well as other pharmaceutical companies.
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