Aliskiren and the Calcium Channel Blocker Amlodipine Combination as an Initial Treatment Strategy for Hypertension

This study was designed to evaluate if patients with hypertension treated early with a combination therapy would achieve better blood pressure (BP) control, than patients being treated with a classical sequential add-on therapy. The study compared the effects of the two treatment strategies: Treatment initiation on a single compound, either with aliskiren or amlodipine, and then continuation with the combination of both versus treatment initiation with the combination of aliskiren/amlodipine and then continuation with the combination. The study also evaluated if the overall mean sitting systolic blood pressure (msSBP)-lowering effect during the study, as well as the change from baseline to study end in msSBP, are superior in the group having received combination therapy from the beginning. The study further evaluated the BP-lowering efficacy and tolerability of both treatment strategies.