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Lp(a) drug lowers heart risk marker but not adverse heart events
STAT • • business
Key Points:
- Lipoprotein(a), a genetic risk factor for cardiovascular disease affecting 1 in 5 people, is being targeted by new therapies aimed at reducing heart attacks, strokes, and deaths.
- A Phase 3 trial of the drug pelacarsen, funded by Novartis, significantly lowered Lp(a) levels but failed to reduce serious cardiovascular outcomes.
- The HORIZON trial, presented at the American Heart Association’s sessions and published in the New England Journal of Medicine, found no difference in heart attacks, strokes, urgent coronary procedures, or deaths between the pelacarsen and placebo groups over nearly five years.
- These results represent a setback for the field investigating Lp(a)-lowering treatments as a strategy to improve cardiovascular health.
