Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) shares fell more than 3% on Monday after the drugmaker said its experimental cardiovascular treatment pelacarsen did not meet the primary endpoint of a late-stage clinical trial.
The company said on Friday that the Lp(a)HORIZON trial, which enrolled more than 8,000 patients with elevated levels of lipoprotein(a), or Lp(a), did not demonstrate a reduction in the risk of heart attacks, strokes and other serious cardiovascular events.
Pelacarsen lowered patients’ Lp(a) levels during the study, but the reduction did not translate into fewer cardiovascular events.
Trial results put focus on Lp(a)-targeting treatments
Lipoprotein(a) is a type of blood fat associated with cardiovascular disease. According to the source, elevated Lp(a) affects approximately one in five people worldwide, and no drug specifically targeting it is currently approved.
The trial outcome also puts attention on other Lp(a)-lowering treatments under development, including programmes from Amgen and Eli Lilly.
“These are not the results we hoped for,” Novartis Chief Medical Officer Shreeram Aradhye said, adding that the data still “advances scientific understanding of the relationship between Lp(a) lowering and cardiovascular outcomes.”
Novartis said full results from the Lp(a)HORIZON trial will be presented at a future medical congress.
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