Polypill Approved for Hypertension, Including as Initial Therapy

The FDA approved a polypill containing telmisartan, amlodipine, and indapamide, known as Widaplik, for the treatment of hypertension in adults, including as initial treatment.

This marks the first time that a triple combination medication has been indicated for initial therapy in patients who are likely to need multiple drugs to achieve blood pressure goals, manufacturer George Medicines noted in their announcement of the approval .

Initial monotherapy has historically been the default for hypertension. However, this often leads to suboptimal results, due to treatment inertia.

" Single pill combination antihypertensive therapy has great potential to improve hypertension control in the U.S. and worldwide," said Paul Whelton, MD, MSc, of Tulane University in New Orleans, in the compan