Altace gets expanded indication

Drug Store News, Nov 13, 2000

Altace (ramipril) is now approved to reduce risk of stroke, heart attack and death from cardiovascular causes. Altace is marketed jointly by Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories and King Pharmaceuticals. Dosage is a 10-mg capsule once daily.

In the Heart Outcomes Prevention Evaluation study, in which 9,297 patients aged 55 and older were evaluated for more than four years, rates of reduction of cardiovascular events reported were: 32 percent in stroke, 20 percent in heart attack, 26 percent for cardiovascular death, 22 percent among all patents at risk for these events, and a 16 percent reduction in incidence of death from any cause. Benefits were seen after just one year of treatment.

Altace, an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor, was first approved to treat hypertension in 1991 and later for congestive heart failure following a heart attack.