Norvasc First Ca Blocker To Show Safety In CHF

Pfizer's calcium channel blocker Norvasc (amlodipine), a drug currently used for the treatment of hypertension and angina, has been shown to be safe for use in the treatment of these conditions in patients who also have congestive heart failure, according to a presentation at the American College of Cardiology meeting in New Orleans, USA, by Milton Packer, director of the Center of Heart Failure Research at the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center.

Dr Packer noted that this is a very important result for Norvasc, as older drugs of the same class are not considered appropriate for use in patients with CHF. He added that the study showed that the drug can be used to successfully treat angina and hypertension in CHF patients without an adverse effect on mortality or exacerbation of disease among either ischemic or nonischemic CHF patients. According to the company, in the non-ischemic patients, Norvasc significantly reduced the rate of death and illness.

All 1,153 patients in the PRAISE (Prospective Amlodipine Survival Evaluation) study received the currently-recommended treatment of a diuretic, digoxin and an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor. One group of patients received Norvasc in addition to the regimen and the other had placebo. The effectiveness measures included the incidence of myocardial infarction during the 34-month trial. More than one-third of the patients in the trial were non-ischemic.