New Data Shows Blood Pressure Reduction Therapy with BENICAR(R) and BENICAR HCT(R) Effectively Reduces Blood Pressure in Elderly Patients to Target Bloo...( PARSIPPANY N.J. May 8 /- Daiichi Sank...),Health

PARSIPPANY, N.J., May 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Daiichi Sankyo, Inc. announced today that new data presented at the American Society of Hypertension, Inc. (ASH) Annual Scientific Meeting and Exposition (ASH 2009) in San Francisco from the BeniSILVER study found that BENICAR(R) and BENICAR HCT(R) provided a mean reduction in 24-hour ambulatory systolic blood pressure (SBP) of 25.7 mm Hg among patients with an average age of 72 years, demonstrating efficacy without compromising safety. Patients age 65 years and older also saw their 24-hour ambulatory diastolic blood pressure (DBP) drop a mean of 12.3 mm Hg. The BeniSILVER study was designed to investigate the safety and blood pressure (BP)-lowering efficacy of BENICAR and BENICAR HCT in patients age 65 and older with mild to moderate (Stage 1) or challenging (Stage 2) hypertension.

Studies have found that both the prevalence and severity of hypertension increase as people get older, making it critical to achieve strict BP control in elderly populations.(1) In fact, in 2008, the HYpertension in the Very Elderly Trial (HYVET) demonstrated that decreasing BP in the elderly can have significant benefits in reducing the incidence of heart failure, heart attack and stroke.(2) BENICAR and BENICAR HCT are indicated for the treatment of hypertension. There are no studies with either treatment demonstrating a reduction in cardiovascular events.

In the BeniSILVER study, researchers evaluated the percent of elderly patients achieving mean 24-hour ambulatory BP targets of <135/85, <130/80 and <120/80 mm Hg. ABPM is generally considered a better indicator of target organ injury than cuff measurement, since it provides a 24-hour measurement of patient BP.(3) BENICAR and BENICAR HCT were able to safely and effectively achieve a 24-hour ambulatory target blood pressure of <135/85 mm Hg in 83 percent of elderly patients (age 65 and older). In
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