Drugmaker Refutes Micardis Cancer Risk

Ridgefield, CTA recent study of the blood-pressure medication Micardis that showed the drug could increase the risk of cancer is being refuted by the pharmaceutical company that makes it.

span itemprop="image" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/ImageObject" style="display:block">The study, conducted by Dr. Ilke Sipahi of the University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland and published in a June issue of the Lancet, revealed that the use of Micardis (telmisartan) and other angiotensin-receptor blockers (ARBs) can increase the risk of cancer, lung cancer in particular. However, the drugmaker, Boehringer Ingelheim is denying the medication's connection to cancer, according to InPharm.

"In pre-clinical trials, clinical trials and day-to-day patient exposure with telmisartan, we have not seen any significant finding related to malignancies," Klaus Dugi, the drug company's corporate senior vice president of medicine, said.

The drugmaker also argued that the safety history of Micardis is "excellent." In addition the company said that the Lancet study looked at two components of the drug in combination, rather than examining them separately, reports the news source.

Despite the study, the US Food and Drug Administration said in a July safety notice that the benefits of Micardis outweigh its potential risks.