Boehringer reveals encouraging Micardis results

Boehringer Ingelheim has announced “encouraging” results from a study to gauge how effective telmisartan is as a receptor blocker in hypertensive patients with diabetic nephropathy.

The results were presented at the European Society of Hypertension in Milan, where Professor Ellen Burgess of Foothills Hospital in Calgary, Canada, commented on the benefits of telmisartan, which is marketed as Micardis and Micardis Plus in 84 countries across the world.

“Telmisartan has already shown superior blood pressure lowering compared to losartan and, in [this study], patients were allowed to take other medication, if needed, to ensure similar blood pressure in both treatment groups,” Professor Burgess said.

As well as the ability to lower blood pressure, the study also revealed that telmisartan could also improve renoprotection, something Professor Burgess referred to as an “additional attribute” of the treatment.

Some 860 patients were included in the study, from 124 treatment centres and ten countries. All were hypertensive with type 2 diabetes and overt nephropathy.

Last month, at the 16th European Stroke Conference in Glasgow, Boehringer revealed that therapy with dipyridamole plus acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) was better than ASA alone at preventing new vascular events in patients who had a transient ischaemic attack or minor ischaemic stroke.