The LCZ696, a dual-acting agent composed of a single molecule, could become a promising treatment for hypertension and heart ailments, rather than antagonists, angiotensin receptor (ARBs). This medicine contains two effects on the same molecule: allows blood to flow more easily and makes blood vessels relax and widen.

“The sum of both effects results in an increased effectiveness and excellent tolerance by controlling blood pressure,” explains to SINC Luis Miguel Ruilope, lead study author and researcher at the Hospital 12 de Octubre.

According to the authors, these findings show that “dual inhibition of angiotensin II receptor and Neprilysin have complementary effects and may provide clinical benefits for a range of cardiovascular diseases, which include hypertension and heart failure.

The research group led by Ruilope reviewed whether dual mechanism of action LCZ696 leads to greater reduction in blood pressure compared with the ARB valsartan. This will be analyzed 1328 patients suffering from mild to moderate hypertension from 18 countries, who were randomly assigned eight weeks of treatment.

The primary outcome of the study, published today in the version on line Magazine The LancetIs the reduction of diastolic blood pressure average during LCZ696 treatment compared with patients treated with valsartan (an average fall in sitting diastolic blood pressure of -2.17 mm Hg and sitting systolic blood pressure of -4 , 20 mm Hg).

Bernard Waeber and François Feihl, University of Lausanne in Switzerland, stressed that “this medicinal product is great potential because most people with hypertension need to take more of a drug acting on different mechanisms affecting the cardiovascular system to control blood pressure effectively.

LCZ696 treatment was safe and well tolerated at all doses used. “To date, clinical experiences with LCZ696 were limited. We now have enough encouraging data that serve as justification to conduct large clinical trials in various clinical conditions, especially hypertension, diabetes and heart failure or kidney, “the authors conclude.
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Bibliographic Reference:
Luis Miguel Ruilope, Andrej Dukat, Michael Böhm, Yves Lacourciere, Jianjian Gong, Martin P. Lefkowitz. “Blood-pressure reduction with LCZ696, a novel dual-acting inhibitor of the angiotensin II receptor and neprilysin: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, active comparator study. The Lancet16 March 2010.

Source: SINC