Baxdrostat lowers blood pressure in resistant hypertension in phase 3

A novel daily pill, baxdrostat, markedly lowered blood pressure in patients whose hypertension remained uncontrolled despite standard therapies, researchers reported at the European Society of Cardiology congress in Madrid. In a phase 3, multinational trial of 796 adults across 214 clinics, addition of baxdrostat to existing treatment produced a placebo corrected reduction in seated systolic blood pressure of about 8.7 to 9.8 mm Hg at 12 weeks, investigators said, and roughly four in 10 patients achieved a systolic pressure below 130 mm Hg compared with fewer than two in 10 on placebo.

The trial, led by Professor Bryan Williams of University College London and sponsored by AstraZeneca, randomly assigned participants after a two week placebo run in to once daily baxdrostat 1 mg, baxdrostat 2 mg, or placebo for 12 weeks, followed by open label and withdrawal phases to collect safety data. Mean reductions in clinic readings were 14.5 mm Hg with 1 mg and 15.7 mm Hg with 2 mg versus 5.8 mm Hg with placebo. In an exploratory substudy that used 24 hour ambulatory monitoring, baxdrostat produced larger sustained falls of about 13.7 to 16.9 mm Hg relative to placebo, investigators...