May is High Blood Pressure Education Month: A Crucial Time to Focus on Uncontrolled Hypertension

May marks High Blood Pressure Education Month, a critical time to raise awareness about what many call “the silent killer”. While hypertension is a prevalent condition, affecting nearly one in two adults in the United States alone, millions struggle to control it effectively. Statistics show that up to 50% of treated patients may have uncontrolled hypertension, leaving them at increased risk for heart disease, stroke, and kidney failure.

An even more concerning subset, roughly 12-18% of those treated, fall under the category of resistant hypertension, meaning their blood pressure remains stubbornly high despite taking three or more anti-hypertensive medications.

At Mineralys Therapeutics, we see uncontrolled and resistant hypertension as one of the biggest challenges facing the pharmaceutical industry today.

The main issue lies in the fact that uncontrolled hypertension is a major, modifiable risk factor for cardio-renal-metabolic diseases, and can lead to organ damage including heart attack, heart failure, stroke and kidney disease.

Current medications often have limitations, such as side effects or incomplete blood pressure control, and there's a clear need for more targeted therapies that take underlying mechanisms of treatment resistance into account. Aldosterone is one of the main causes of hypertension, especially in patients who are overweight or obese, and often evades today’s standard treatment approaches.

This is where lorundrostat comes in.

Lorundrostat is a highly selective aldosterone synthase inhibitor, a new approach to managing hypertension. Unlike some existing medications, lorundrostat works by specifically targeting a key mechanism involved in hypertension treatment resistance. This targeted approach has the potential to offer a more effective and well-tolerated option for the millions of patients who struggle with uncontrolled blood pressure.

We are currently advancing lorundrostat through a rigorous clinical development program. This includes the Phase 2 Advance-HTN trial, with top-line data expected in Q4 of this year. Additionally, the Phase 3 Launch-HTN trial is ongoing, with top-line data anticipated in the second half of 2025.

Rigorously designed clinical trials are essential in hypertension research. By carefully selecting the patient population and utilizing appropriate outcome measures, we can ensure that lorundrostat, if successful, reaches the patients who need it most and delivers the intended benefits.

At Mineralys, we are dedicated to addressing the unmet needs of patients with uncontrolled and resistant hypertension. We continue to be excited about the potential of lorundrostat and look forward to sharing further updates as our development program progresses.