Valsartan plus hydrochlorothiazide for first-line therapy in hypertension

Abstract

Goal blood pressure levels are only being achieved in approximately a third of hypertensive patients, which suggests that there is a need for new and/or improved approaches to the treatment of hypertension. The majority of patients with hypertension require combination therapy to control their blood pressure. The use of a combination of drugs with complementary mechanisms of action may provide greater efficacy and tolerability compared with monotherapy, and may allow more rapid achievement of target blood pressure. Moreover, the use of single-pill combinations has the potential to increase adherence and persistence, and reduce costs. The single-pill combination of valsartan plus hydrochlorothiazide was recently approved by the US FDA for first-line use in hypertensive patients who are likely to need multiple drugs to achieve their blood pressure goals. The focus of this article is on those randomized, double-blind trials in which this combination was administered as first-line therapy in patients with essential hypertension.

Keywords::

• antihypertensive therapy
• combination therapy
• hydrochlorothiazide
• hypertension
• valsartan

Financial & competing interests disclosure

Yves Lacourcière has received consultant fees and has served on speakers’ bureaus or advisory panels of Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, Boehringer-Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc., and Merck and Co., Inc. He has also received an honorarium for his contribution to this manuscript. Luc Poirier has received consultant fees and has served on advisory panels of Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation. Rita Samuel is an employee of Novartis Pharmaceutical Corporation. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

Writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript. The authors wish to acknowledge Simon Lancaster for providing editorial support, the funding for which was supported by Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation. The authors had full control of the contents of this manuscript.