Patients with co-existing diabetes and hypertension face a major increase in risk of cardiovascular complications, including heart attacks, stroke, heart failure and renal failure. MC-4232 is a novel product that combines the cardioprotective properties of Medicure’s lead product, MC-1, with an ACE inhibitor, an established first line therapy for blood pressure control.
The study, named MATCHED, is a randomized, double-blinded, placebo controlled, double-crossover trial encompassing up to 120 patients. Assessment will be made on a variety of parameters including blood pressure and metabolic function and the trial will also provide information on product safety and tolerability.
“There is no one drug on the market today that specifically targets the numerous problems facing a patient who suffers from both hypertension and diabetes, so there is an urgent need to find a therapy that can reduce the cardiovascular risks associated with this patient population,” stated Dr Albert Friesen, Medicure’s president and CEO.
“We eagerly await the results from this trial, as the data will lay the groundwork necessary for a larger phase III study to support registration of the product,” he continued. “Success in this trial would represent a major milestone for Medicure and would clearly serve to further validate our combination product strategy.”
The results of the study are expected to be announced in the summer of 2005.