Artist® Tablets (Carvedilol) for Hypertensive Patients in Japan: Results of a Long-Term Special Survey

Background: In Japan, when pharmaceutical companies launch a new drug, they are obligated to conduct a post-marketing survey to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the drug in accordance with Good Post-Marketing Surveillance Practice under Article 14-4 (re-examination) of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Law at contracted medical institutions. We report the results of a long-term special survey that we conducted as a post-marketing survey. Objective: The results of a prospective post-marketing survey that was conducted to assess the safety and efficacy of the b-adrenergic receptor antagonist (β-blocker) Artist® tablets 10 mg, 20mg (carvedilol) in patients with hypertension in Japan, were investigated in order to examine the safety and efficacy of the drug during long-term treatment (18 months). Patients: Patients were carvedilol-naive and had essential hypertension or renal parenchymal hypertension. Methods: We performed this survey as a prospective cohort study (special survey) utilizing a centralized registration method over 3 years (starting from April 1994), for an observation period of 18 months of carvedilol treatment. Results: Sixty-one medical institutions across Japan collected 380 case report forms of patients who received long-term administration of carvedilol, with 363 and 341 cases evaluated for safety and efficacy, respectively. The discontinuation rate was 7.2% and the incidence of adverse drug reactions was 5.23% (19 of 363) in the safety population. There was no significant change in fasting plasma glucose levels from baseline (118.1 ± 46.5mg/dL) to after carvedilol treatment (114.6 ± 43.3 mg/dL) [n = 141; p = 0.310]. In 341 evaluable patients in the efficacy population, decreases in both blood pressure and pulse rate were statistically significant at all assessment points in comparison with baseline data (p < 0.001). Similarly, in hypertensive patients with diabetes mellitus, decreases in blood pressure were statistically significant at all assessment points in comparison with baseline data (p < 0.001). Conclusions: The results of this study show that carvedilol exerted stable antihypertensive effects leading to favorable blood pressure control throughout long-term treatment, without showing any safety concerns. It was concluded that there were no clinically significant issues in terms of safety or efficacy with the long-term treatment of carvedilol in patients with hypertension.