Boehringer Ingelheim - clinical trials, ain't they a bitch?!

Said through gritted teeth:

"We are proud to have sponsored the PRoFESS study," said Dr. Thor Voigt, Senior Vice President, Medicine and Drug Regulatory Affairs, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

"We set out to advance the understanding of strategies for recurrent stroke prevention and will continue to evaluate the PRoFESS data to help physicians make more informed treatment decisions."

The Trial:

PRoFESS (Prevention Regimen For Effectively avoiding Second Strokes) was designed to examine the effects of different prevention regimens on recurrent stroke, including the antiplatelet agent AGGRENOX versus clopidogrel and the efficacy of MICARDIS, an antihypertensive, compared to placebo in preventing recurrent stroke in the presence of background standard antihypertensive therapy. The trial was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical study that included 20,332 patients from 695 sites in 35 countries, with a four-year follow-up of patients.

PRoFESS is a collaborative effort between academia and the sponsor, Boehringer Ingelheim. Co-funders of the telmisartan arm of the study in selected countries are Bayer Schering Pharma and GlaxoSmithKline.

The Results:

Read them and weep - if you work for BI, that is!

Boehringer Ingelheim just blew up not one, but two of their own drugs with one trial !

Bad day, huh?

Hat tip: The Caped Crusader