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Candesartan trial for diabetic retinopathy enrollment completed
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OSAKA, Japan — A clinical trial to evaluate a new drug for diabetic retinopathy has completed enrollment, according to the drug’s developers.
The trial will evaluate whether candesartan, an angiotensin II type 1 receptor blocker, can delay the onset and progression of diabetic retinopathy, according to a press release from Takeda Chemicals, based here.
The Diabetic Retinopathy Candesartan Trials (DIRECT) has enrolled 5,238 patients in 300 investigational sites in 30 countries. All patients have been randomized into three trials; patients will receive either 32 mg of candesartan cilexetil or placebo. The three trials will investigate the effects of candesartan in type 1 diabetic patients without retinopathy for primary prevention, type 1 diabetic patients with retinopathy for secondary prevention, and type 2 diabetic patients with retinopathy for secondary prevention.
The trials are being jointly sponsored by Takeda Chemicals, which markets candesartan worldwide as Blopress, and AstraZeneca, which markets the drug as Atacand in 70 countries.