Actelsar HCT

Because Actelsar HCT is a generic medicine and is bioequivalent to the reference medicine, its benefits and risks are taken as being the same as the reference medicine’s.

Actelsar HCT is a medicine that contains two active substances, telmisartan and hydrochlorothiazide. It is used in adults who have essential hypertension (high blood pressure) that is not adequately controlled by telmisartan alone. ‘Essential’ means that the hypertension has no obvious cause.

Actelsar HCT is a ‘generic medicine’. This means that Actelsar HCT is similar to a ‘reference medicine’ already authorised in the EU called MicardisPlus.

Actelsar HCT is available as tablets (40 mg or 80 mg telmisartan and 12.5 mg hydrochlorothiazide; 80 mg telmisartan and 25 mg hydrochlorothiazide) to be taken by mouth once a day with liquid. The dose of Actelsar HCT to be used depends on the dose of telmisartan that the patient was taking before: patients who were receiving 40 mg telmisartan should take the 40/12.5-mg tablets, and patients who were receiving 80 mg telmisartan should take the 80/12.5-mg tablets. The 80/25-mg tablets are used in patients whose blood pressure is not controlled using the 80/12.5-mg tablets or who have been stabilised using the two active substances taken separately before switching to Actelsar HCT.

The medicine can only be obtained with a prescription.

Actelsar HCT contains two active substances, telmisartan and hydrochlorothiazide.

Telmisartan is an ‘angiotensin-II-receptor antagonist’, which means that it blocks the action of a hormone in the body called angiotensin II. Angiotensin II is a powerful vasoconstrictor (a substance that narrows blood vessels). By blocking the receptors to which angiotensin II normally attaches, telmisartan stops the hormone having an effect, allowing the blood vessels to widen.

Hydrochlorothiazide is a diuretic, which is another type of treatment for hypertension. It works by increasing urine output, reducing the amount of fluid in the blood and reducing the blood pressure.

The combination of the two active substances has an additive effect, reducing the blood pressure more than either medicine alone. By lowering the blood pressure, the risks associated with high blood pressure, such as having a stroke, are reduced.

Safety information has been included in the summary of product characteristics and the package leaflet for Actelsar HCT, including the appropriate precautions to be followed by healthcare professionals and patients.

The European Commission granted a marketing authorisation valid throughout the European Union for Actelsar HCT on 13 March 2013.

Because Actelsar HCT is a generic medicine, studies in patients have been limited to tests to determine that it is bioequivalent to the reference medicine, MicardisPlus. Two medicines are bioequivalent when they produce the same levels of the active substance in the body.

The Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) concluded that, in accordance with EU requirements, Actelsar HCT has been shown to have comparable quality and to be bioequivalent to MicardisPlus. Therefore, the CHMP’s view was that, as for MicardisPlus, the benefit outweighs the identified risk. The Committee recommended that Actelsar HCT be approved for use in the EU.