AZOR(R) Receives FDA Approval as First-Line Treatment for High Bloo...( Fixed-dose combination offers a conve...),Health

Fixed-dose combination offers a convenient option that may help patients reduce steps to reach their blood pressure goals while decreasing patient pill burden(1)

PARSIPPANY, N.J., May 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Daiichi Sankyo, Inc. today announced that the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the combination treatment AZOR(R) (amlodipine and olmesartan medoxomil) as initial or 'first-line' therapy in patients likely to need multiple antihypertensive agents to achieve their blood pressure (BP) goals. The FDA approval of AZOR for first-line use reinforces current U.S. guidelines to prescribe combination drugs as initial therapy for patients likely to need more than one drug. According to the Seventh Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure (JNC 7), more than two-thirds of hypertensive individuals are not controlled on one drug and require two or more medications selected from different drug classes to achieve their BP goal.(2)

"The approval of AZOR as a first-line therapy gives doctors an important treatment option that may help the many patients who require multiple medications avoid several treatment steps to achieve their blood pressure goals," said Dr. Keith C. Ferdinand, M.D., chief science officer, Association of Black Cardiologists and clinical professor, Emory School of Medicine. "Fixed-dose combinations like AZOR provide patients with a more convenient option than separate monotherapies, which may help simplify the treatment regimen and decrease overall pill burden."

High blood pressure can cause permanent changes to blood vessels and the heart that may create serious problems elsewhere in the body.(3) Hypertension is one of the most prevalent conditions in the United States, affecting approximately one in three American adults (about 73 million people age 20 and older) and approximately one billion people worldwide.(4),(5) I
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