The Canadian health care system could save billions of dollars thanks to a new drug tested in Calgary that dramatically slows kidney disease.

"This is exciting news. We've been waiting for something like this for years," said Dr. Bruce Cullerton, a kidney specialist with the University of Calgary.

"This will have a big effect on the millions of people who suffer from diabetes, hypertension and kidney disease."

Cullerton and a team of international researchers are in San Francisco this weekend to present the results of a study that shows the progression of kidney disease is dramatically reduced in patients treated with the Cozaar brand of the drug losartan.

Using a sample of more than 1,500 patients with diabetes and kidney disease -- some of them in Calgary -- researchers found a 28 per cent reduction in end-stage renal disease that requires patients to undergo dialysis or kidney transplants.

"It shows that this dramatically slows the progression of the disease," Cullerton said.

Kidney disease is a common affliction amoung people who suffer hypertension and adult-onset diabetes and it takes up a large portion of health care dollars.

"Diabetes is a rising epidemic in Canada and about half the cases of renal failure are due to diabetes,"said U of C medical professor Dr. Norman Campbell.

"It's one of the major health-care concerns in the country."