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New multinational data show that black patients treated with Exforge experienced a significantly higher reduction in systolic blood pressure than those on amlodipine alone.
In addition, a subgroup of black patients with severe high blood pressure achieved an average systolic blood pressure reduction of 50 mmHg when taking Exforge and, in some cases, additional hydrochlorothiazide (HCT) at the discretion of the investigator.
Exforge, a combination of the world’s leading high blood pressure medicines Diovan (valsartan) and amlodipine, produced a significant decrease in blood pressure after only two weeks compared to amlodipine alone.
“The large blood pressure reductions seen in this trial were experienced by severe patients who have the most difficulty getting their blood pressure to healthy levels,” said Dr John M Flack, the lead investigator from Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit.
“These data may have a real impact on helping patients who are most at risk.”
The results, presented today at the American Society of Hypertension (ASH) 23rd Annual Scientific Meeting and Exposition in New Orleans, show that Exforge got patients in a difficult-to-treat group – black patients with systolic blood pressure >=160 mmHg – to healthy blood pressure levels.
Black patients are at higher risk of developing high blood pressure than other ethnic groups for reasons that are not fully understood. They are also less likely than white patients to achieve blood pressure control while receiving treatment.
Guidelines recommend that combination therapy should be used as first-line treatment in difficult-to-treat patient groups.
Exforge is not currently approved as a first-line treatment for high blood pressure.
