Benefits Of Bayer's Nisoldipine Shown By DEFIANT II Study

A major, multicenter study has shown no increase in cardiac events ormortality in post-myocardial infarction patients treated with Bayer's long-acting calcium channel blocker nisoldipine, according to the DEFIANT II study, reported in the current issue of the European Heart Journal. The drug was also shown to improve cardiac function and seemed to have a beneficial effect on mortality.

Nisoldipine is the second long-acting dihyropyridine CC blocker developed by Bayer, the first being Adalat (nifedipine). It is currently marketed in the UK by Bayer as Syscor 10 MR, by Bayer and Zeneca in Germany as Baymycard RR, and by Bayer in Japan as Nisoldipine RR. The product is awaiting approval in other European countries.

DEFIANT II (a sequel to DEFIANT I - which showed that nisoldipine improved exercise capacity and LV diastolic function) was a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial to determine the extent to which nisoldipine, randomization starting 7 to 10 days after acute myocardial infarction and given for 24 weeks, improved functional capacity as assessed by exercise time during bicycle ergometry.