Similarities and Differences between the United States and Europe in the Development of Fixed Combination Products for the Treatment of Hypertension

In clinical trials, generally only about half of unselected patients with mild to moderate hypertension respond to treatment with antihypertensive monotherapy. In clinical practice, only about a quarter of hypertensive patients actually achieve the desired target blood pressure levels. Fixed-dose combination antihypertensive therapy is thus important in order both to increase the proportion of patients in whom blood pressure control is achievable and to simplify treatment regimens, thus contributing to improved patient compliance and hence improved blood pressure control in community practice.