Novartis publishes positive phase III data for heart failure drug

Novartis has published data from a clinical study that demonstrates the potential benefits offered by RLX030, an investigational therapy for acute heart failure.

Results from Relax-AHF, a six-month phase III trial involving 1,161 patients in 11 countries, showed that the drug was able to reduce rates of all-cause mortality, thus meeting one of the two primary endpoint goals of the trial.

During the placebo-controlled trial, RLX030 was given on admission to the hospital in the form of an intravenous infusion for up to 48 hours, in addition to loop diuretics and other medicines.

The compound is the first in a new class of medicines designed to treat acute heart failure, a condition that accounts for around two million hospitalisations each year in the EU and US.

Novartis will present this study at the American Heart Association congress in Los Angeles in November 2012 and will also be discussing the data with global health authorities soon.

Earlier this week, the company received a recommendation from Europe's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use for approval of new indications of the diabetes therapies Galvus and Eucreas.