Hypertension, the global public health issue of this century, may soon have better management tools. This disease that contributes to the burden of heart disease, stroke and kidney failure and premature death, and disability may now likely require only one injection every six months to keep the blood pressure under control, say published medical papers on its early trials.
The new drug, zilebesiran, could revolutionise the future of treatment. The medication has been developed by US-based company Alnylam and is administered as an injection rather than in traditional pill form.
An international team ran early-stage clinical trials across four sites in the UK and the renowned medical journal NEJM (hyperlink: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2208391) of the UK has vetted the findings.
NEJM states: “Of 107 patients enrolled, 5 had mild, transient injection-site reactions. There were no reports of hypotension, hyperkalemia, or worsening of renal function resulting in medical intervention…”
NEJM concludes: “Dose-dependent decreases in serum angiotensinogen levels and 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure was sustained for up to 24 weeks after a single subcutaneous dose of zilebesiran of 200 mg or more; mild injection-site reactions were observed.”
According to the World Health Organisation WHO), if hypertension isn’t treated, it can cause other health conditions like kidney disease, heart disease, and stroke. Patients suffering from very high blood pressure (usually 180/120 or higher) can experience symptoms including severe headaches. chest pain.
A 2014 study across India carried out by the University of Cambridge (UK) in collaboration with various local medical hospitals and colleges showed that the overall prevalence of hypertension in the country was 29.8 percent. It showed that about 33% of urban and 25% of rural Indians are hypertensive and that their treatment requires them to take daily tablets.
However, zilebesiran, made by the US company Alnylam, is injected instead of the oral tablet doses of BP meds. A UK trial involving 112 patients at four sites suggested it could help reduce blood pressure to a safe, healthy range, reports The Times UK.
The medical experts carrying out the trial gave 80 patients a single injection of zilebesiran under the skin and a placebo or a dummy jab to 32 others.
Those given the drug had a reduction in systolic blood pressure of between 10mmHg and 20mmHg depending on the dose. Systolic pressure is a measure of the pressure in your arteries when your heart beats and diastolic blood pressure measures the pressure in your arteries when your heart rests between beats.
In the current trials, the reduction in systolic blood pressure of between 10mmHg and 20mmHg lasted up to six months after the administration of the injection of zilebesiran, the New England Journal of Medicine reported.
Zilebesiran suppresses the generation of the hormone angiotensin, which narrows blood vessels. That in turn helps avert the building of above-normal pressure on the arteries when the heart beats.
The drug will not be available immediately in the market as now as it moves into the next stage of clinical trials which will focus on developing robust safety data, and broader evidence of efficacy, before zilebesiran can be licensed for use.
