Micardis cuts heart risks in large study

A six-year study pitting the newer blood pressure drug Micardis with the ACE inhibitor ramipril found Micardis was just as effective in preventing serious heart problems as the older drug, but with fewer side effects, international researchers said on Monday.

The Boehringer Ingelheim drug Micardis, or telmisartan, is typically used in patients with heart failure, but the study found it worked as well as the ACE inhibitor ramipril, marketed in the United States as Altace by King Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Telmisartan is an angiotensin receptor blocker, or ARB. Ramipril is an angiotensin converting enzyme or ACE inhibitor. Both act on the chemical angiotensin in different ways to regulate blood pressure.

A team of international researchers compared the drugs in a study of more than 25,620 patients with heart disease or diabetes and other heart risk factors, but not heart failure.

Telmisartan and ramipril alone were equally effective in reducing cardiovascular death, stroke, heart attack or hospitalization for heart failure, but telmisartan was easier to tolerate than ramipril, with fewer patients experiencing cough or other side effects.

The study was presented at a meeting of the American College of Cardiology in Chicago and published online in the New England Journal of Medicine.