Visionaire Research & Education, a Raleigh company that recruits for veterinary clinical trials, is casting its net across North America to find cats to test an experimental hypertension drug.
But to do that, Visionaire is looking for cats with kidney disease. Visionaire wants cats with kidney disease because cats with hypertension show no visible signs of the condition. But hypertension is often associated with the kidney disease, particularly in older cats.
Right now, there are no Food and Drug Administration-approved drugs to treat hypertension associated with kidney disease in cats. Veterinarians typically treat the conditional with off-label drugs. Visionaire says it is evaluating a liquid medication indicated for treating feline hypertension. The pharmaceutical company sponsoring the study was not identified.
The study will consist of 35 study sites in the United States and Canada. The Triangle site is the Morrisville Cat Hospital. To qualify for the study a cat must be at least one year old; have high blood pressure; be without severe signs of hypertension; be well enough to participate for up to six months; and may not have other severe uncontrolled diseases. There are other study requirements, which the veterinarians participating in the trial will explain when the cat is evalutated.
Cats enrolled in the double blind study will receive free veterinary care, related to the study. Owners of enrolled cata are also eligible for other reimbursement. For information on enrolling in the trial, go to www.MyCatCanHelp.com.
