Cytos vaccine offers radically new approach

Cytos Biotechnology has won a round of kudos for its experimental vaccine to control hypertension. CYT006-AngQb produced positive safety and efficacy data in a small Phase IIa trial of 72 volunteers with mild to moderate blood pressure. The therapy works by inhibiting angiontensin II, a molecule responsible for high blood pressure. One of the reasons why some top scientists are bullish about the therapy is that it offers an opportunity to treat the condition with an occasional jab, as opposed to a regimen of daily pills. And it's been delivering some impressive data in the clinic. Both doses of the drug worked to lower blood pressure in the trial, with the higher dose performing best. And the therapy appeared effective in lowering blood pressure during the early morning hours, when high blood pressure is particularly dangerous.

"The big hope is that you could give a few doses, and that would be it for life, then you wouldn't have some of the compliance issues related to taking medications on a daily basis," Daniel Jones, president of the American Heart Association, told the Washington Post. "Safety is the key thing. If this is proven safe, I really can't think of a downside."

- check out this release [1] from Cytos
- here's the report [2] from the Washington Post

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