Effects of age and gender on the pharmacodynamics of omapatrilat in healthy volunteers.

Omapatrilat is the most clinically advanced member of a new class of cardiovascular drugs, vasopeptidase inhibitors. Omapatrilat is a single molecule that simultaneously inhibits neutral endopeptidase and angiotensin-converting enzyme, thus preserving vasodilator peptides and inhibiting production of the vasoconstrictor angiotensin II. In healthy male volunteers, omapatrilat decreased blood pressure while being generally well tolerated, with no serious adverse events. This study was undertaken to determine the effect of age and gender on the pharmacodynamics of omapatrilat. Healthy male or female volunteers between the ages of 18 and 80 were given a single oral dose of omapatrilat 40 mg. Neither age nor gender affected the vasopeptidase inhibition by omapatrilat. There were no differences between subject groups in the effect of omapatrilat on supine systolic, diastolic, or mean arterial blood pressure. Based on this study of healthy subjects, it can be concluded that it is not necessary to adjust the initial dose of omapatrilat for the treatment of hypertension based solely on age or gender.