Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is the most common inherited heart condition, affecting roughly one in 500 people, and the approved drug treatments target only one of its two forms. Twelve week Phase 2 data on an experimental oral medication aimed at both forms were presented Monday as late breaking science at the European Society of Cardiology Congress in Munich, delivered by Anjali Tiku Owens of the University of Pennsylvania in a session on novel therapies for myocardial disease and heart failure.
The drug, EDG-7500, is described by its developer as a selective cardiac sarcomere modulator designed to slow early contraction velocity and improve impaired relaxation without compromising the heart's pumping function. That last clause is the design goal separating it from existing options, which reduce excessive contraction but carry a risk of reducing pumping strength too far.
