{"id":452474,"date":"2025-06-07T12:56:33","date_gmt":"2025-06-07T12:56:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/health.theemtspot.com\/?p=452474"},"modified":"2026-04-11T19:52:38","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T19:52:38","slug":"new-study-twice-yearly-injection-significantly-lowers-blood-pressure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theemtspot.com\/health\/new-study-twice-yearly-injection-significantly-lowers-blood-pressure\/","title":{"rendered":"New Study: Twice-Yearly Injection Significantly Lowers Blood Pressure"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>A new clinical trial published in <em>JAMA<\/em> has confirmed that a <strong>twice-yearly injection of zilebesiran<\/strong> can lead to <strong>sustained reductions in blood pressure<\/strong> for patients whose hypertension isn\u2019t adequately managed by standard treatments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The findings suggest that <strong>RNA-based injection therapies<\/strong> could become a <strong>low-frequency, high-efficacy alternative<\/strong> to daily oral medications, especially for patients at risk of nonadherence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The global study, known as <strong>KARDIA-2<\/strong>, evaluated the safety and efficacy of zilebesiran across <strong>663 patients<\/strong> and found the treatment to be significantly more effective at lowering blood pressure compared to standard bp medications alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-larger-font-size\">Key Study Highlights<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Zilebesiran is a <strong>subcutaneous RNA-interference therapy<\/strong> targeting angiotensinogen production in the liver.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The injection is given <strong>once every six months<\/strong>, offering long-term blood pressure control.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Patients who received zilebesiran experienced <strong>greater BP reductions<\/strong> compared to those on standard treatment alone.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The therapy is well tolerated and could be especially beneficial for <strong>patients with poor adherence to daily medication regimens<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Next steps include larger <strong>outcomes-based Phase III trials<\/strong> assessing zilebesiran\u2019s ability to prevent heart attacks, strokes, and cardiovascular deaths.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"rtex-highlighter-1\">The Global Burden of Hypertension and Treatment Challenges<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Hypertension affects approximately <strong>one in three adults in the UK<\/strong> and over <strong>1.2 billion people worldwide<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Uncontrolled blood pressure significantly increases the risk of <strong>heart attacks, strokes, kidney failure, and premature death<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While several effective treatments exist, <strong>adherence remains a major challenge<\/strong>, particularly with multi-drug regimens requiring daily intake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>KARDIA-2 aimed to address this issue by testing a <strong>low-frequency injectable solution<\/strong> for long-term BP control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"rtex-highlighter-1\">Study Design: Zilebesiran vs. Standard Care<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The <strong>KARDIA-2 trial<\/strong> included <strong>663 patients<\/strong> with uncontrolled hypertension despite being on standard therapy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Participants continued their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theemtspot.com\/health\/blood-pressure\/medications\/\">existing blood pressure medications<\/a> and were randomized to receive either <strong>zilebesiran injections<\/strong> or a placebo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Zilebesiran is designed to <strong>silence the gene responsible for producing angiotensinogen<\/strong>, a liver-derived protein that contributes to blood vessel constriction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By blocking this protein using <strong>RNA interference (RNAi)<\/strong> technology, zilebesiran helps <strong>relax blood vessels and lower vascular resistance<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"rtex-highlighter-1\">Results: Meaningful and Sustained Blood Pressure Reduction<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Patients who received zilebesiran experienced <strong>significant reductions in blood pressure<\/strong> sustained over six months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Compared to placebo, the treatment group achieved <strong>greater declines in both systolic and diastolic BP measurements<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The subcutaneous injection was well tolerated, with no major safety concerns reported during the trial period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the research team, this approach may provide a <strong>breakthrough alternative<\/strong> for people <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theemtspot.com\/health\/living-with-high-blood-pressure\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.theemtspot.com\/health\/living-with-high-blood-pressure\/\">struggling to manage hypertension<\/a> with daily medications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"rtex-highlighter-1\">Expert Commentary: Why This Therapy Matters<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Dr. Manish Saxena, Clinical Co-Director at the <strong>William Harvey Clinical Research Centre<\/strong> and lead UK investigator of the study, emphasized the clinical relevance of the results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cThis study demonstrates the efficacy and safety of zilebesiran, when added to commonly used first-line BP drugs,\u201d said Saxena. \u201cThe novelty of this treatment is its long duration; giving just one injection every six months could help millions of patients to better manage their condition.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Dr. Saxena highlighted the global need for therapies that address the <strong>adherence gap<\/strong> in hypertension management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"rtex-highlighter-1\">What\u2019s Next: Phase III Trials and Cardiovascular Outcomes<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Following the promising results of KARDIA-2, researchers plan to launch <strong>KARDIA-3<\/strong>, another Phase II study targeting patients with <strong>established or high-risk cardiovascular disease<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The goal is to determine whether zilebesiran can serve not just as a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theemtspot.com\/health\/high-blood-pressure-treatment-methods\/\">BP treatment<\/a> but as a <strong>comprehensive cardiovascular risk-reduction strategy<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Later in 2025, the sponsor, <strong>Alnylam Pharmaceuticals<\/strong>, will initiate a <strong>large-scale global outcomes study<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This trial will assess whether zilebesiran reduces <strong>major cardiovascular events<\/strong>, including <strong>strokes, heart attacks, and cardiovascular death<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The current study was co-led by <strong>Barts Health NHS Trust<\/strong>, which served as the <strong>top enrolling site in Europe<\/strong> for the KARDIA-2 trial.<\/p>\n\r\n\t\t\t<div id=\"daexthefu-container\"\r\n\t\t\t\tclass=\"daexthefu-container daexthefu-layout-side-by-side daexthefu-alignment-left\"\r\n\t\t\t\tdata-post-id=\"452474\">\r\n\r\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"daexthefu-feedback\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"daexthefu-text\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"daexthefu-title\">Was this helpful?<\/h3>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"daexthefu-buttons-container\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"daexthefu-buttons\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t<div class=\"daexthefu-yes daexthefu-button daexthefu-button-type-text\" data-value=\"1\">\r\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"daexthefu-button-text\">Yes<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t<div class=\"daexthefu-no daexthefu-button daexthefu-button-type-text\" data-value=\"0\">\r\n\t\t\t\t<div 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Learn how it could change hypertension treatment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":452512,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_helpful_status":1,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[736,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-452474","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-blood-pressure"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theemtspot.com\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/452474","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theemtspot.com\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theemtspot.com\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theemtspot.com\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theemtspot.com\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=452474"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.theemtspot.com\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/452474\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":538393,"href":"https:\/\/www.theemtspot.com\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/452474\/revisions\/538393"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theemtspot.com\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/452512"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theemtspot.com\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=452474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theemtspot.com\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=452474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theemtspot.com\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=452474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}