Clinical overview of irbesartan: a new angiotensin II receptor antagonist.

Irbesartan is an angiotensin II receptor (AT1 subtype) antagonist that has been extensively studied in the Bristol-Myers Squibb/Sanofi clinical development program. As shown in seven placebo controlled clinical trials, irbesartan provides clinically significant dose related reductions in blood pressure in patients with mild-to-moderate hypertension. Once daily dosing provides full 24 h blood pressure control with blood pressure reductions equivalent to those of twice daily dosing, and long-term control with monotherapy in a high percentage of patients. The antihypertensive effect of irbesartan is comparable to or exceeds that of leading antihypertensive agents. Whereas irbesartan demonstrates a relationship between dose and antihypertensive effect, there is no such relationship between dose and rates of adverse events or discontinuations due to adverse events, the incidence of which are comparable to those with placebo. Thus, irbesartan provides significant dose related antihypertensive effects with placebo-like tolerability.