Cardiologists' hopes for two drugs dashed
The gist
Novartis's pelacarsen and Novo Nordisk's ziltivekimab both failed to beat placebo in large heart trials.
The results undercut hopes that lowering Lp(a) or inflammation protects the heart.
How it unfolded
- Jul 2026Novo Nordisk said a study of 6,300 patients with heart disease, advanced kidney disease and systemic inflammation failed to show a benefit; the drug lowered inflammation as intended but did not reduce death, heart attacks or strokes versus placebo.
- Sep 2026Novartis and co-developer Ionis Pharmaceuticals announced their drug had failed to meet the trial's main goal.
- Sep 7, 2026Novo ended two other late-stage trials of ziltivekimab in heart failure and inflammation after an independent data monitoring committee concluded they were unlikely to succeed.
Key terms
- placebo
- A treatment designed to appear real but having no active pharmaceutical effect, used as a comparison in trials.
- Lp(a)
- A lipoprotein variant that carries apolipoprotein(a) and is a genetic risk factor for atherosclerosis and heart disease.
- antisense oligonucleotide
- A synthetic strand of genetic material used in antisense therapy to target messenger RNA and alter its expression.
Source: Wikipedia