Two multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies were conducted to determine in patients with hypertension the oral dose of bevantolol that would effectively reduce home diastolic blood pressure to less than 95 mm Hg. The two studies differed only in once-daily or twice-daily dose administration. In the 125 patients evaluated, the mean decreases in home diastolic blood pressure were significantly greater in patients receiving 100 to 400 mg/day of bevantolol (8 to 10 mm Hg) than in patients receiving placebo (2 to 3mm Hg) (p less than 0.05). Bevantolol administered once daily or twice daily was equally effective in the management of hypertension and was well tolerated in the doses studied.