Gilead Sciences launches phase III trial of angina therapy

Gilead Sciences has commenced a phase III clinical study of ranolazine, a new therapy for chronic angina patients who have incomplete revascularisation following percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).

The pharmaceutical company is allying with the Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF) to launch the new River-PCI trial, which will evaluate the efficacy of the drug in preventing major adverse cardiovascular events.

Around 2,600 patients will be enrolled at around 200 investigative centres in Europe, the US, Canada and Israel, with the aim of gaining further insight into a condition for which new treatment options are currently lacking.

Dr Norbert Bischofberger, Gilead's executive vice-president for research and development and chief scientific officer, noted that this is the first time ranolazine has been assessed in a post-PCI setting as part of a clinical study.

"We are pleased to partner with CRF on this study, which will determine if the addition of ranolazine to standard therapy is effective in reducing post-PCI ischemic events," he added.

This comes in the same week that Gilead published new clinical data supporting the long-term efficacy of Viread, a therapy for hepatitis B.