New blood pressure drug helps people with uncontrolled hypertension in trial

Lorundrostat, an experimental drug, may help lower blood pressure in people with uncontrolled hypertension, researchers reported Saturday at the annual meeting of American College of Cardiology in Chicago.

A new type of medication may help lower blood pressure in people with uncontrolled hypertension, researchers reported Saturday at the annual meeting of American College of Cardiology in Chicago.

In a pivotal Phase 2b clinical trial, patients who took the experimental medication lorundrostat along with two or three currently available hypertension drugs saw a decrease in systolic blood pressure (the upper number) that was 8 points greater than what was seen in patients who got a placebo. The study will be published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

“This new potential therapy for hypertension is exciting,” said the study’s lead author, Dr. Luke Laffin, co-director of the Center for Blood Pressure Disorders at the Cleveland Clinic’s Heart, Vascular and Thoracic Institute. “We do a poor job controlling blood pressure in the U.S.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly half of adults in the U.S. have hypertension; among them, less than 1 in 4 have their blood pressure under control.

Hypertension is diagnosed when a person has a blood pressure of 130/80 mm Hg or higher. A systolic measurement between 120 and 129 mm Hg is considered to be elevated. A normal measurement is 120/80 mm Hg or below.