One of the most closely watched cardiovascular trials of the year has returned a negative result. Novartis announced on September 4 that pelacarsen, an experimental injection designed to lower lipoprotein(a), did not reduce the risk of major cardiovascular events in an 8,323-patient late-stage trial, even though it succeeded in lowering the target it was built to attack.
The company said the Lp(a)HORIZON trial missed its primary endpoint, a combination of cardiovascular death, non-fatal heart attack, non-fatal stroke and urgent coronary revascularization requiring hospitalization, compared with placebo.
