Novartis announces positive data for new heart failure drug

Novartis has announced positive clinical trial data for its promising investigational heart failure medicine LCZ696.

Presented at the European Society of Cardiology congress and published simultaneously in the New England Journal of Medicine, the results from the PARADIGM-HF study showed LCZ696 was able to cut cardiovascular deaths by 20 percent compared to a leading ACE inhibitor therapy.

Patients with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction who were given LCZ696 were more likely to be alive and less likely to have been hospitalised for sudden deterioration of their heart failure than those administered with the alternative treatment, with the benefits being statistically significant and clinically important.

PARADIGM-HF was the largest heart failure study ever performed, with a total of 8,442 patients enrolled.

David Epstein, division head of Novartis Pharmaceuticals, said: "We want to thank leading cardiologists from around the world for their collaboration with us and their determination in advancing this important new life-saving therapy for heart failure patients."

These positive findings demonstrate why PARADIGM-HF was stopped ahead of schedule in March 2014, thanks to the compelling efficacy data that had already been generated.