MLYS
Published on 06/30/2025 at 15:05
Mineralys Therapeutics, Inc. announced the publication of the positive results from the pivotal Phase 3 Launch-HTN trial in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). The manuscript titled ?Lorundrostat in Participants with Uncontrolled and Treatment-Resistant Hypertension? is featured in the June 30, 2025 issue.
The Launch-HTN trial evaluated the efficacy and safety of lorundrostat, a novel aldosterone synthase inhibitor (ASI), when added to existing background treatment in 1,083 participants with uncontrolled or treatment resistant hypertension. The trial demonstrated that lorundrostat significantly reduced systolic blood pressure (BP) with a favorable safety and tolerability profile. The Launch-HTN trial was a global, randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled Phase 3 trial, which enrolled 1,083 eligible adult participants who failed to achieve their BP goal despite being on two to five antihypertensive medications.
Launch-HTN reflects the real-world setting for clinicians by utilizing automated office blood pressure (AOBP) measurements and allowing participants to stay on their existing medications. Authors noted that the trial recruited a diverse population as reflected in the high proportion of females, Black or African American and elderly participants. When added to existing background treatment, lorundrostat 50 mg dosed once daily demonstrated clinically meaningful, statistically significant mean reductions in AOBP with a 16.9 mmHg reduction at Week 6 (-9.1 mmHg placebo adjusted; p-value < 0.0001) that was sustained with a reduction of 19.0 mmHg at Week 12 (-11.7 mmHg placebo adjusted; p-value < 0.0001).
These benefits were consistent across age, sex, race, body mass index, and baseline medication regimen. Lorundrostat demonstrated a favorable safety and tolerability profile in the Launch-HTN trial. The anticipated on-target effects on serum electrolytes, increased serum potassium and reduced serum sodium were modest and rapidly reversible upon discontinuation of lorundrostat.
A confirmed serum potassium level of greater than 6.0 mmol/L occurred in three subjects (0.6%) on lorundrostat 50 mg once daily, as compared to one subject (0.4%) on placebo. Suppression of cortisol production was not observed, and there was a very low incidence of drug-related serious adverse events resulting in discontinuation or dose-adjustment of study medication. Having sustained, elevated BP (or hypertension) increases the risk of heart disease, heart attack and stroke, which are leading causes of death in the United States.1 In 2022, more than 685,000 deaths in the United States included hypertension as a primary or contributing cause.
Hypertension and related health issues resulted in an estimated annual economic burden of about $219 billion in the United States in 2019. Less than 50% of hypertension patients achieve their BP goal with currently available medications.4 Dysregulated aldosterone levels are a key factor in driving hypertension in approximately 30% of all hypertensive patients. Lorundrostat is a proprietary, orally administered, highly selective aldosterone synthase inhibitor being developed for the treatment of uncontrolled hypertension (uHTN) or resistant hypertension (rHTN), as well as CKD and OSA.
Lorundrostat was designed to reduce aldosterone levels by inhibiting CYP11B2, the enzyme responsible for its production. Lorundrostat has 374-fold selectivity for aldosterone-synthase inhibition versus cortisol-synthase inhibition in vitro, an observed half-life of 10-12 hours and demonstrated a 40-70% reduction in plasma aldosterone concentration in hypertensive subjects.