There is an urgent need for acute severe hypertension disease control, a common medical emergency hiding in plain sight.

Acute severe hypertension (ASH) is a sudden and severe spike in blood pressure (SBP ≥ 180 mmHg and/or DBP ≥ 120 mmHg) requiring immediate attention to prevent heart attack, stroke, or damage to other organs and often resulting in hospitalization and organ failure. While many people who develop ASH have underlying chronic resistant or uncontrolled hypertension, the near-term risk associated with this acute event is underappreciated and rarely studied as a separate disease condition.

There are currently no treatments indicated for ASH and if left untreated, ASH can lead to end organ damage. Angiotensinogen (AGT), primarily produced by the liver, is the key pathway in blood pressure regulation. Genetic studies have shown that people with AGT gene variants have an increased risk of ASH.

Kardigan is developing tonlamarsen as an angiotensinogen-targeted bridging therapy to interrupt the dangerous cycle of ASH, with the potential to be a first-in-class therapy to lower blood pressure in people with hypertension with elevated AGT and reduce the risk of organ damage, heart failure, and other serious cardiovascular events. Phase 2 data showed a clear response to tonlamarsen, with decreases of both AGT levels and systolic blood pressure (on average) in people with high levels of AGT.

Learn more about clinical trials for tonlamarsen here.

Kardigan in-licensed exclusive worldwide development and commercialization rights to tonlamarsen, an investigational drug discovered and developed by Ionis.