High blood pressure down with two injections a year: there is a new drug

A new mRNA drug to keep high blood pressure under control, with just two injections a year. A revolution for those patients who are unable to lower their blood pressure despite consistently following the prescribed therapies. Up to 50%, after a year, abandon antihypertensive therapy and thus the possibility of protecting the heart and brain from heart attack and stroke also decreases. The new drug, Zilebesiran, currently in trials, seems promising, according to the Kardia-2 study presented at the American College of Cardiology conference underway in Atlanta.

I study

“The results of the research are very encouraging: the new molecule interferes with the messenger RNA, blocking the production of angiotensinogen in the liver, a protein which is at the top of the chain of organic processes which ultimately cause the rise in blood pressure values. By reducing the availability of this protein in the blood also lowers blood pressure”, explains Pasquale Perrone Filardi, president of the Italian Society of Cardiology and director of the school of specialization in diseases of the cardiovascular system at the Federico II University of Naples.

“The innovative therapy is administered with a simple subcutaneous injection similar to that given with insulin and its action lasts a long time because it is sufficient to repeat it after 3 or even 6 months – underlines the expert – With this method of administration, patients who are unable to follow the therapy prescribed by the doctor would no longer have an alibi and the treatment would be able to significantly reduce maximum blood pressure values ​​without the need for other treatments.”

The double-blind, placebo-controlled Kardia-2 study, presented at the American College of Cardiology meeting by Akshay S. Desai, associate professor at Harvard Medical School, evaluated the efficacy and safety of Zilebesiran in 672 patients , in addition to daily pills.

“The patients enrolled, at the time of the first administration, had blood pressure values, on average, of 143 mm Hg and presented an average reduction of up to 18 mm Hg in systolic which, in many cases, remained stable for up to 6 months. These The results pave the way for the revolution of biological drugs also in the world of hypertension which needed them most – concludes Perrone Filardi – given the insufficient adherence to taking drugs throughout one's life”.