Shares in medical food developer Provexis (PXS:AIM) are trading 16.4% higher at 1p on positive results from the second stage of its pilot study for heart-health food ingredient, Fruitflow.
The results indicate that a 150mg single dose in powder form significantly lowers average 24-hour systolic blood pressure versus a placebo.
The systolic level is the pressure in the arteries during contractions of the heart muscle. The diastolic is the blood pressure when the heart muscle is between beats.
The study examined acute effects of different amounts of Fruitflow on limits relating to blood pressure, which included average blood pressure and pulse pressure, as well as heart rate.
Participants were healthy with no underlying cardiovascular disease or other conditions likely to affect blood pressure.
When monitoring time was split between waking and sleeping periods, both systolic and diastolic pressures were significantly lower after a 150mg dosage of Fruitflow, compared to a placebo during the waking period.
Provexis aims to tackle high blood pressure by achieving lower than 140 for systolic pressure and less than 80 for diastolic pressure.
Reducing these levels is said to decrease the risk of stroke by 35% to 40% and result in at least a 16% fall in the risk of heart attack according to the World Health Organisation.
In November 2014, Provexis agreed to work with University of Oslo to undertake further research concerning the relationship between Fruitflow and blood pressure regulation.
Its recent work shows that Fruitflow has ‘blood pressure lowering effects’ that may help patients with various cardiovascular conditions.
Provexis signed an option agreement with the University of Oslo’s technology transfer office Inven2 to commercialise its work.
