Boehringer's telmisartan no better than placebo in stroke patients; NEJM study

New evidence published in the August 29 edition of the New England Journal of Medicine suggests that therapy with Boehringer Ingelheim's Micardis (telmisartan), initiated soon after an ischemic stroke and continued for two and a half years, does not significantly lower the rate of recurrent stroke, major cardiovascular events or diabetes.

Elevated blood pressure is the most serious risk factor for stroke, which is the most frequent cause of death in the world, responsible for about five millions deaths each year. This is the latest trial where improvment in a surrogate endpoint risk factor did not translate into clinical benefit.

UK drug major GlaxoSmithKline's blockbuster diabetes drug Avandia (rosiglitazone) has been under scrutiny since last year, when a meta-study published in the NEJM linked the drug with an increased risk of myocardial infarction (Marketletter May 28, 2007). Ongoing mixed news has seen GSK's sales of the drug drop to L1.22 billion ($2.43 billion) last year from L1.60 billion the year earlier.