Novartis to present heart failure drug data at ESC 2014

Novartis has announced that it will be sharing new data that demonstrates the benefits of its groundbreaking heart failure drug LCZ696 at a medical conference later this month.

The company will attend the 2014 European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Congress on August 31st 2014 to present findings from PARADIGM-HF, a phase III trial of the new medicine involving 8,442 patients.

It was shown that LCZ696 was able to significantly reduce cardiovascular deaths in a head-to-head study compared to an alternative drug, in addition to the current best treatment, in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction.

This means the therapy was able to meet its primary endpoint, showing LCZ696 reduced heart failure hospitalisations along with cardiovascular mortality rates. It helps to demonstrate why the drug has been fast-tracked for approval in the US.

PARADIGM-HF is the largest heart failure study ever conducted and was stopped ahead of schedule in March 2014, due to the compelling efficacy data that had already been generated.

Tim Wright, global head of development at Novartis Pharmaceuticals, said: "Novartis recognises the huge global need for treatments that extend and improve the lives of people with heart failure and we believe LCZ696's unique mechanism of action could be transformative."