MONDAY, October 6, (News Locale) - A single polypill that combines blood-thinning aspirin, a cholesterol-lowering statin, and an ACE inhibitor and a thiazide to lower blood pressure is being tested in a pilot study.

The study of 700 volunteers will test the safety and efficacy of the polypill, manufactured by Dr Reddy's of Hyderabad, India. The trial is led by Anthony Rodgers at the University of Auckland, New Zealand and is funded by the Wellcome Trust in London, UK, and the British Heart Foundation.

New Scientist reports that the pill, called the Red Heart Pill, is intended to reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke in poor and rich countries and a months supply costs about $1. Patients from India, Australia, Brazil, Netherlands, New Zealand, UK and the US are being recruited for the pilot trial.

The concept of the polypill was thought of by Nick J. Wald and Malcolm R. Law of the Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine in London. The scientists advocated the polypill concept in the British Medical Journal about five years ago.

The World Health Organization says that 17.5 million people died from heart causes the world over in 2005. Alarmingly this figure represents 30% of all deaths across the globe. If the current situation continues unabated some 20 million people may succumb to heart disease by 2015.

Poor people are unable to afford costly pills and hence are unable to get the correct treatment for heart disease. The Red Heart Pill holds out a ray of hope for such individuals.