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Trials with osteoarthritis patients have produced promising results for naproxcinod, a drug in the cyclooxygenase-inhibiting nitric oxide-donator (CINOD) class of anti-inflammatory agents.
Biopharmaceutical company NicOx, which produces the drug, has announced positive top-line results from a 118-patient ambulatory blood-pressure monitoring (ABPM) trial.
The primary ABPM parameter was the mean 24-hour ambulatory systolic blood pressure (SBP), and naproxcinod showed a statistically-significant decrease in SBP of 3.8 mmHg (p=0.011) compared with naproxen.
Raymond Townsend, professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, who advised NicOx on the design and analysis of the study, said: “These impressive results suggest that naproxcinod could represent a valuable treatment alternative for osteoarthritis patients.
“The hypertensive side effects of COX-2 inhibitors and traditional NSAIDs are a serious medical issue, and there is a clear need for a new drug with no detrimental effect on blood pressure.
“These ABPM data have been obtained in a relevant population of chronically-treated osteoarthritis patients with many cardiovascular risk factors, and clearly show a consistent beneficial effect on blood pressure for naproxcinod across the dose range, in contrast to naproxen.”
NicOx plans to provide further details of the results at a leading cardiology conference next year.
Copyright Press Association 2008
