Novo Nordisk has ended two more late-stage trials of its experimental heart drug ziltivekimab, and the thousands of heart failure patients enrolled in those studies will stop receiving the monthly injection they signed up for. The company told investigators on September 4 that the HERMES and ATHENA trials would close early, and the decision became public on September 7.
An independent data monitoring committee recommended the stop. According to a company statement given to Clinical Trials Arena, the committee reviewed the totality of the data and concluded both studies were unlikely to reach a different outcome than the ZEUS trial, which missed its primary endpoint in July. This is a futility stop, not a safety stop. The two are not the same thing, and the distinction matters for the people enrolled.
