NEW YORK, May 21 -- PRNewswire/AsiaNet Study results show excellent BP efficacy reduction with Co-Diovan in difficult-to-treat patient population Novartis' Co-Diovan(R) (valsartan and hydrochlorothiazide) aggressively lowers blood pressure to recommended target goals as effectively as amlodipine but with fewer side effects in African Americans, considered a difficult-to-treat patient population. The study called AADVANCE (African American Diovan (Valsartan) Amlodipine (Norvasc(R)*) Clinical Efficacy Trial), was among several new studies examining the efficacy of Diovan(R) (valsartan) and Co-Diovan presented this week during the American Society of Hypertension 19th Annual Scientific Meeting and Exposition in New York. High blood pressure is a public health crisis. One billion people worldwide suffer from high blood pressure, which accounts for one in four adults or one-sixth of the world's population. As a result of genetic and other factors, high blood pressure is often difficult to treat in African Americans, particularly in those who also have diabetes. According to new treatment guidelines,1,2 most of these patients need more than one type of high blood pressure treatment to achieve healthy blood pressure levels. Despite proven cardiovascular benefits, inhibitors of the renin-angiotensin-system (RAS) - angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) and angiotensin-converting-enzyme (ACE) inhibitors - are underused in the African American population. "The compelling new data in the AADVANCE study and the other studies presented add to the cumulative clinical evidence of the wide range of benefits that Diovan and Co-Diovan provide in terms of double-digit blood pressure lowering, superior tolerability, long-term patient persistency with therapy, and cardioprotection, further demonstrating that Diovan and Co-Diovan offer a new standard of care in cardiovascular disease," said Joerg Reinhardt, Head of Development, Novartis Pharma AG. A leading fixed-dose combination of two effective anti-hypertensive medicines from Novartis, Co-Diovan combines a diuretic and Diovan in a convenient once-a-day tablet. Diovan, the fastest growing branded antihypertensive globally, blocks the RAS, a hormonal system that regulates blood pressure and which can have harmful effects on the heart and blood vessels. Diovan not only powerfully lowers blood pressure, but is known to have additional positive effects beyond lowering blood pressure. In fact, Diovan is proven to have all of the life-saving and other established benefits of ACE inhibitors in patients following a heart attack. In addition to hypertension, Diovan is also available in more than 40 countries for the treatment of heart failure in patients who also take usual therapy including diuretics, digitalis and either beta blockers or angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, but not both. About AADVANCE AADVANCE was a prospective, double-blind, randomised, head-to-head comparison of Co-Diovan and amlodipine, a calcium channel blocker, in 482 African Americans with mild to moderate high blood pressure (between 140 and 180 mmHg/ between 90 and 110 mmHg). After a 2-3 week placebo run-in, patients were randomised to Diovan 160 mg monotherapy or amlodipine 5 mg for 2 weeks and then force-titrated to Co-Diovan 160/12.5 mg or amlodipine 10 mg for an additional 10 weeks. AADVANCE showed Co-Diovan reduced blood pressure as effectively as amlodipine (mean reduction in 24-hr ABPM systolic BP -15.9 plus or minus 12.1 mmHg vs. -14.5 plus or minus 12.2 mmHg and diastolic BP -10.2 plus or minus 8.6 mmHg vs. -9.1 plus or minus 8.3 mmHg respectively; p