AVE7688 in Patients With Mild to Moderate Blood Pressure

Inclusion Criteria: * Patients with mild-to-moderate, treated or untreated, essential hypertension, as defined by the JNC VII (Joint National Committee on the Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure, Seventh report ) guidelines who meet the following BP eligibility criteria: * mean SeSBP (Seated systolic blood pressure) ≥140 mm Hg and \<180 mm Hg and mean SeDBP (Seated diastolic blood pressure) ≥90 mm Hg and \<110 mm Hg at two consecutive qualifying visits in the placebo lead-in phase * variability between the mean BP measurements on the 2 consecutive qualifying visits is less or equal 7 mm Hg for SeDBP. Exclusion Criteria: * Refusal or inability to give informed consent * Patients who have previously been treated with AVE7688 * Patients who cannot stop their anti-hypertensive treatment * Known history of secondary hypertension, including patients with endocrine disorders such as pheochromocytoma, active hyperthyroidism, or untreated hypothyroidism * Severe hypertension * Women of child bearing potential, who have a positive serum pregnancy test, or who do not agree to use an accepted method of contraception * Women who are breast feeding * Patients with non-cardiac progressive fatal disease * Patients with immunological or hematological disorders * Requirement for concomitant treatment that could bias the primary evaluation * Unstable insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus * History of stroke, intracranial hemorrhage or transitory ischemic attack within the previous year * Likelihood of poor compliance both with treatment and study design * Patient is the investigator, sub-investigator, research assistant, pharmacist, study coordinator, or other staff member or relative there of directly involved in the conduct of the study * Administration of any investigational drug within the preceding 30 days * Abuse of drugs or alcoholic beverages within 1 year prior to the start of the study * Patients taking herbal or dietary compounds that have the potential to influence blood pressure * Contraindications to losartan-potassium as per local package insert * History of hypersensitivity or angioedema with ACE inhibitors or NEP inhibitors, patients with hereditary or idiopathic angioedema, patients with allergic reaction in which urticaria or angioedema was the manifestation * Impaired hepatic function * Known unilateral or bilateral renal artery stenosis * Serum potassium \> 5.5 mmol/L * Impaired renal function