Heart Drug Trials Fail, Puzzling Experts
Novartis' drug belacarsen failed to reduce heart deaths and attacks despite lowering blood particles, dampening therapeutic hopes.
Translated by Qiyas from الراي — Original source
Chicago (Reuters) – An experimental drug from Novartis, designed to treat one of the genetic causes of heart disease, failed to reduce mortality rates and non-fatal heart attacks, dampening hopes for the first drug of its kind in clinical trials.
Detailed results showed that although the drug lowered levels of blood particles known as lipoprotein(a) by 78%, monthly doses of Novartis’ pelacarsen over nearly five years had no effect on preventing a second heart attack, reducing the risk of stroke, or the need for emergency procedures to open blocked arteries, in the trial involving more than 8,300 patients.
Dr. Steven Nissen of the Cleveland Clinic, who presented the results on Saturday at the American Heart Association meeting in Chicago, said, “Everyone in the world, including myself, believed this drug would be effective.”
Novartis and its development partner, Ionis Pharmaceuticals, announced in September that their drug missed the trial’s primary endpoint, but experts and investors were eager to review the details to determine whether the treatment offered any benefit.
A second study, also presented at the American Heart Association meeting, tested a Novo Nordisk drug aimed at reducing heart inflammation. It too achieved its intended goal of lowering inflammation but failed to prevent major cardiovascular events.
Currently, there are no treatments for patients with elevated lipoprotein(a), a genetic risk factor for heart disease estimated to affect about 20% of the global population, although few individuals are aware they have it.
Researchers had hoped that lowering lipoprotein(a) levels would yield benefits similar to those provided by statins, which significantly reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes by lowering levels of bad cholesterol.
