Daiichi Sankyo's Benicar shows strong BP control in the elderly

Japanese drugmaker Daiichi Sankyo presented data at the 2009 annual meeting of the American Society of Hypertension, held in San Francisco,  showing that Benicar (olmesartan medoxomil) and Benicar HCT (olmesartan  medoxomil plus hydrochlorothiazide) provided a mean reduction in  24-hour ambulatory systolic blood pressure of 25.7mm Hg among patients  aged an average of 72 years.

Results from the BeniSILVER study showed that subjects aged 65 years and  older also saw their 24-hour ambulatory diastolic BP drop a mean of  12.3mm Hg. The trial was designed to investigate the safety and blood  pressure-lowering efficacy in patients with mild-to-moderate or  challenging hypertension.

In the six months ended September 2008, global turnover of the  angiotensin receptor blocker, which is sold as Benicar in the USA and  Olmetec in Europe and Japan, increased 8.2% year-on-year to 104.6  billion yen ($1.06 billion).