Efficacy and Safety Comparison of Azilsartan Medoxomil to Valsartan in Participants With Essential Hypertension

Hypertension affects approximately 50 million individuals in the United States. As the population ages, the prevalence of hypertension will continue to increase if broad and effective preventive measures are not implemented. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), hypertension is the most common attributable cause of preventable death in developed nations, as uncontrolled hypertension greatly increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular disease, and renal failure. Despite the availability of antihypertensive treatments, hypertension remains inadequately controlled; only about one-third of patients continue to maintain control successfully. This study is being conducted to determine whether administration of azilsartan medoxomil in subjects with essential hypertension is more efficacious in reducing systolic blood pressure than valsartan. Study participation is anticipated to be approximately 7 months. Outside of the study center, participants will be required to wear an ambulatory blood pressure monitoring device at 24 hour intervals. Following completion of the 6-month double-blind treatment period, all available subjects will be offered the option to continue in a 28-week extension study with open-label azilsartan medoxomil 40 mg. For the extension study, participants will take azilsartan medoxomil 40 mg, tablets, orally, once daily for up to 28 weeks. Hydrochlorothiazide 12.5 mg or 25 mg or any other antihypertensive (except angiotensin II receptor blockers) may be added in a step-wise fashion to maintain blood pressure within target \<140/90 mmHg for non-diabetic subjects and \<130/80 mmHg for diabetic subjects