Auckland University and New Zealand patients are trialling a pill which could prevent hundreds of thousands of deaths from heart disease, the biggest killer across the Western world.
The five-in-one polypill, which combines well-known medicines in lower doses, has been shown to be safe and effective in its first trials on humans. Researchers estimate that the single pill would reduce heart disease and risk of stroke by over 80 per cent in middle aged and older people. The medication contains a combination of aspirin, three drugs that lower blood pressure and a statin, the drug that lowers levels of cholesterol.
In the first trial to be published in a mainstream medical journal, researchers from McMaster University, Canada and St John's Medical College, Bangalore, have tested a version of the polypill in 2000 people in 50 centres in India. The results, published in The Lancet, show that over 12 weeks the polypill reduced blood pressure and cholesterol in a similar way to its individual constituent drugs without increasing side effects.
Four hundred participants from New Zealand and seven other countries were being recruited to trial a similar combination pill in a pilot study beginning this year.
Auckland University epidemiologist Professor Rod Jackson, who is assisting with the pill pilot study, said if the trials were to echo the results from the Indian study it could revolutionise the treatment of heart disease in New Zealand.
"It would be quite radical. We know, and have evidence that a large number of people are at an increased risk of cardio-vascular disease, and they are either untreated or under-treated. They are under-treated because they are resistant to multiple drugs.
"The pill would be the most wonderful thing ... Patients hate taking two pills, or three or four. And GPs are sensitive to this. It would halve the risk of heart attacks, and it would be cheap."
No Western pharmaceutical company has shown interest in developing the so-called polypill because it does not promise big profits. Dr Jackson said it would sell cheaply because its five constituent medicines are low cost, have been around for decades and their patents have expired.
He said New Zealand doctors' treatment of heart disease had paved the way for the polypill, because of their "total risk" approach.
"We were the pioneers of developing a multiple risk management approach to cardio-vascular disease - not simply treating blood pressure or high cholesterol by itself."
Professor Anthony Rodgers, who is leading the trial here, said realising the enormous potential of the combination medicine would also greatly benefit developing countries.
"The study in India estimated the medication would cost a person about $20 a year. A huge fraction of the population pays from the pocket, so it would make a significant difference."
Researchers were desperate for trial participants aged between 50 and 70.
To find out if you are eligible to take part in the polypill trial, go to www.pillproject.org or call 09 373 7599 extension 82358 (Participants will need to attend the trial clinic, based at The University of Auckland, Tamaki Campus in Glen Innes. )
