Updates share move, add details throughout, adds analyst's comments in paragraphs 6 and 7, company comments from conference call in paragraph 10

By Kamal Choudhury

March 10 (Reuters) - Mineralys Therapeutics MLYS.O said on Monday its lead drug significantly lowered blood pressure in patients with difficult-to-treat hypertension in late- and mid-stage trials.

The drug, lorundrostat, was being tested in patients with uncontrolled hypertension, which markedly raises their risk of heart attacks or strokes, and those whose blood pressure remains high despite taking treatments.

According to the CDC, nearly half of U.S. adults or roughly 120 million people have hypertension, and less than 50% of those are able to achieve their blood pressure goals with current medications, according to the company.

In the late-stage study involving 1,083 adult patients, Mineralys' drug showed a placebo-adjusted reduction in systolic blood pressure by 9.1 millimeters of mercury, a measurement of blood pressure.

The drug also reduced systolic blood pressure by 7.9 mmHg in a mid-stage trial, in adults who had high-blood pressure despite taking at least two other medications for the symptoms, the company said.

Brokerage Guggenheim hailed the data as a major win for the drug, saying it could become a "potent first-in-class and (a) potential best-in-class agent."

It estimates the market for drugs for uncontrolled hypertension to be worth $6.1 billion by 2040 for hypertension. AstraZeneca's AZN.L experimental drug baxdrostat, which it acquired in 2023 through its $1.8 billion deal for CinCor Pharma, is also in the race.

Shares of Mineralys were up about 47% at $15.47, and on track to add about $246.7 million to the company's market capitalization, if gains hold.

Mineralys' drug, however, had a side effect in a small percentage of patients during the trials, the company said, highlighting instances of hyperkalemia, a condition marked by high potassium levels in the blood.

But its executives argued that doctors could effectively manage hyperkalemia by monitoring potassium levels two weeks after the initiation of the medication, and adjusting its dosage.

(Reporting by Kamal Choudhury in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Shinjini Ganguli)

((Kamal.Choudhury@thomsonreuters.com;))