The AA2-Ratio represents a novel concept of PA diagnostics that is applicable in patients on anti-hypertensive therapy. This serves as the basis for the widespread implementation of PA screening into clinical routine of hypertension management, which would greatly improve the cure rate for PA and therefore prevent a significant number of cardiovascular events caused by uncontrolled hypertension. The focus of this project was the development of an implementation and commercialization plan aiming to make the AA2-Ratio available for hypertensive patients in Europe. The test will be based on the quantification of certain hormones in patient serum samples by mass spectrometry and will be offered as a diagnostic service to specialized clinical centers
PA is a severe, but curable form of treatment resistant hypertension. Treatment resistant hypertension affects more than 1 out of 50 Europeans and clinical guidelines recommend screening for PA among this high cardiovascular risk patient cohort. Unfortunately, adherence to these guidelines in clinical practice is poor, which is caused by the low diagnostic performance of currently available tests in patients on anti-hypertensive therapy and results in a high number of preventable cardiovascular events. The broad implementation of the AA2-Ratio into clinical practice would result in an improvement of the cure rate for PA and therefore prevent hypertension associated cardiovascular events, which are major cost drivers for health care systems in Europe.