High blood pressure is the main cause of
strokes, and a common cause of heart attacks and kidney failure. In most people
with the condition, the cause is unknown, and they need life-long treatment
through drugs w ho eventually become resistant to it.
A new drug called Baxdrostat has been shown
to significantly reduce high blood pressure (hypertension) in patients who may
not respond to current treatments for the condition, according to results from
a phase II trial, published in the New England Journal of
Medicine and presented at the American Heart Association Scientific
Sessions conference, the trial results represent the first time that this long-sought
new class of drugs to treat resistant hypertension has been developed and
successfully tested.
The trial, conducted over 12 weeks, gave
248 patients either a once daily dose of Baxdrostat at varying amounts or a
placebo. At entry to the trial, none of these patients’ blood pressure was
controlled despite taking 3 or more medicines for high blood pressure.
The doses of Baxdrostat, taken in addition to patients’ usual medicines, varied
from 2mg, to 1mg, to 0.5mg. At the end of the 12 weeks, the group who received
the highest amount of Baxdrostat saw a 20-point fall in blood pressure. There
was an 11-point difference between this group and that which received the
placebo treatment, a difference rarely seen in any single drug to reduce blood
pressure.
The results of this first-of-its-kind drug
are exciting, although more testing is required before we can draw comparisons
with any existing medications. But Baxdrostat could potentially offer hope to
many people who do not respond to traditional hypertension treatment.
The researchers concluded that this study
shows the drug causes a marked fall in blood pressure in patients whose
hypertension is resistant to usual drugs, and that this type of hypertension is
partly due to excess production of the aldosterone hormone.
Reference:
New drug can successfully treat
patients typically resistant to high blood pressure treatment; New England
Journal of Medicine.