Novartis announces positive Tekturna results

Novartis has announced the results of a clinical study of its recently approved cardiovascular treatment Tekturna (aliskiren).

The trial showed that patients administered with the compound in combination with the company’s Diovan (valsartan) treatment saw a higher reduction in blood pressure when compared to those patients administered solely with one or the other compound.

While Diovan is an angiotensin receptor blocker that prevents the narrowing of blood vessels by blocking a hormone in the rennin angiotensin system, Tekturna targets the rennin enzyme that can trigger a process resulting in high blood pressure.

Novartis also announced the results of a second trial comparing Tekturna to ACE inhibitor ramipril. The study showed that 61.4 per cent of patients administered with Tekturna reached their blood-pressure goal, compared to 53.1 per cent treated with ramipril.

Suzanne Oparil, director of the vascular biology and hypertension programme and professor of medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, said: “These study results are exciting because they suggest the value of different mechanisms of action when used together.”

She added that the tolerability profile of the combination of both pharmaceuticals was similar to the profiles of each compound in isolation.

Earlier this month, Novartis announced that Tekturna had become the first direct rennin inhibitor to be approved in the US as a treatment for high blood pressure.