Visken

Country: Australia

Language: English

Source: Department of Health (Therapeutic Goods Administration)

Active ingredient:

Pindolol

Available from:

Novartis Pharmaceuticals Australia Pty Ltd

Class:

Medicine Listed (Export Only)

Patient Information leaflet

VISKEN
®

_pindolol_
CONSUMER MEDICINE INFORMATION

WHAT IS IN THIS LEAFLET
This leaflet answers some common
questions about Visken.
It does not contain all the available
information. It does not take the
place of talking to your doctor or
pharmacist.
All medicines have risks and
benefits. Your doctor has weighed
the risks of you taking this medicine
against the benefits they expect it
will provide.
The information in this leaflet was
last updated on the date listed on the
final page. Some more recent
information on the medicine may be
available.
YOU SHOULD ENSURE THAT YOU SPEAK
TO YOUR PHARMACIST OR DOCTOR TO
OBTAIN THE MOST UP TO DATE
INFORMATION ON THE MEDICINE.
YOU CAN ALSO DOWNLOAD THE MOST UP
TO DATE LEAFLET FROM
WWW.NOVARTIS.COM.AU.
Those updates may contain important
information about the medicine and
its use of which you should be aware.
IF YOU HAVE ANY CONCERNS ABOUT THIS
MEDICINE, ASK YOUR DOCTOR OR
PHARMACIST.
KEEP THIS LEAFLET WITH THE MEDICINE.
You may need to read it again.
WHAT VISKEN IS USED
FOR
Visken belongs to a group of
medicines called beta-blockers.
It works by affecting the body's
response to some nerve impulses,
especially in the heart. As a result,
the heart needs less blood and
oxygen and does not have to work as
hard. Blood vessels in the rest of the
body are also widened, causing blood
pressure to decrease.
Visken can be used alone or in
combination with other medicines to
treat your condition.
HYPERTENSION
Visken is used to treat high blood
pressure, also called hypertension.
Everyone has blood pressure. This
pressure helps to move your blood
around your body. Your blood
pressure may be different at various
times of the day, depending on how
busy you are. You have hypertension
when your blood pressure stays
higher than is needed, even when you
are calm and relaxed.
There are usually no symptoms of
hypertension. The only way of
knowing that you have it is to have
your blood pressure checked on a
regular basis. You may feel fine and
have no symptoms but, if high blood
pr

Summary of Product characteristics

1

VISKEN
®

(PINDOLOL) 

NAME OF THE MEDICINE 

Active ingredient:   
Pindolol  
Chemical name:      
(±)-4-(2-hydroxy-3-isopropylaminopropoxy)-indole 
CAS number:  

13523-86-9     
Molecular weight:    
248.33 
Molecular formula:  
C
14
 H
20
N
2
O
2

Molecular weight:   
248.33 
Chemical structure:  

O
N
OH
H
N
H

DESCRIPTION 

Pindolol  is a weak base (pK
a
  9.2), slightly soluble in
water (< 0.1  % w/v at neutral pH) and 
readily soluble in acidic, aqueous buffers.  Solubility in ethanol (95 % v/v) is 0.62 %. 

Visken
tablets contain pindolol, colloidal anhydrous silica, magnesium
stearate, pregelatinised 
maize starch, and microcrystalline cellulose.  

PHARMACOLOGY 

PHARMACODYNAMIC PROPERTIES 
Pharmacotherapeutic group: beta-adrenergic blocking agents; beta
blockers 
ATC code: C07AA03 

Visken is a competitive non-selective
beta-adrenoreceptor antagonist with intrinsic 
sympathomimetic activity but insignificant
membrane stabilising activity. 

In patients with excessive sympathetic
nervous activity Visken reduces heart rate, force of 
cardiac contraction and cardiac output leading to reduced oxygen
demand of the myocardium. 

In hypertensive patients,  a single oral administration
of Visken may reduce blood pressure, 
heart rate and cardiac output but under chronic administration cardiac output returns to pre-
treatment levels while systemic
vascular resistance is reduced; blood pressure
remains lowered.  

Plasma renin activity is reduced by both
single doses and chronic administration of Visken. 
In addition to its beta-adrenoceptor antagonist activity Visken also exhibits intrinsic 
sympathomimetic activity (ISA).  The full
significance of the various clinical manifestations of 
this partial agonist activity is not yet established.