BASEL, SWITZERLAND--(Marketwire - April 01, 2008) - - Latest study reveals further potential benefits of renin inhibitor in heart disease - Basel/Switzerland and Bridgewater NJ/USA, 1 April 2008 Speedel (SWX: SPPN) today welcomed promising results from the latest SPP100 (Tekturna/Rasilez[1]) surrogate marker clinical trial which were announced by Novartis and presented in a late-breaking session at the American College of Cardiology meeting in Chicago. The study results[2] show that SPP100, the first-in-class direct renin inhibitor, has shown clinically meaningful reductions in left ventricular hypertrophy, a proven predictor of heart disease, that are comparable to those seen with the current standard-of-care treatment. Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is an abnormal thickening of the heart muscle and often results from high blood pressure. It affects nearly a third of all patients with high blood pressure and decreases the heart’s ability to work efficiently - more than doubling a patient’s risk of premature cardiovascular events or death[3].
