Novartis heart drug fails to improve cardiovascular outcomes despite lowering Lp(a)
Detailed trial results presented at the American Heart Association meeting in Chicago showed that Novartis's experimental drug pelacarsen provided no cardiovascular benefit despite lowering Lp(a) by 78%. The trial included more than 8,300 patients with a previous major cardiovascular event, followed for a median of 4.7 years. Adverse effects led 20.6% of pelacarsen recipients to stop treatment, compared with 7.5% of placebo recipients.