- Top-line results from a large-scale Phase 3 clinical trial, CANTOS, assessing Novartis' (NVS -0.5%) ACZ885 (canakinumab) in people with a prior heart attack and inflammatory atherosclerosis showed a treatment benefit. The data were presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress in Barcelona and published in The New England Journal of Medicine.
- Patients treated with 150 mg of ACZ885 (in addition to standard-of-care, including lipid-lowering therapy) experienced a 15% reduction in major adverse cardiovascular (CV) events (MACEs), a 24% relative reduction in the risk of heart attack and a non-statistically significant 100% reduction in the risk of CV death.
- Additional results included a 17% relative reduction in the risk of a composite of non-fatal heart attack, non-fatal stroke, CV death and hospitalization for unstable angina requiring unplanned revascularizations, a 36% reduction in the risk of hospitalization for unstable angina requiring unplanned revascularization and 32% less risk of any coronary revascularization.
- The company plans to submit the CV data for regulatory approval.
- Canakinumab is a fully human monoclonal antibody that inhibits interleukin-1beta, a cytokine that plays a key role in inflammation, specifically inflammatory arteriosclerosis.
- Previously: Novartis gets Canakinumab boost (June 22)
- Now read: Novartis AG: The Reliable European Healthcare Stock
Original article