Detailed heart failure data disclosed for LCZ696

LCZ696 from Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS; SIX:NOVN) led to a 20% reduction in risk on a composite of cardiovascular death or heart failure hospitalization, the primary endpoint, compared with enalapril in the 8,442-patient Phase III PARADIGM-HF trial to treat heart failure in patients with reduced ejection fraction (HF-REF). In the trial, CV death or heart failure hospitalization occurred in 21.8% of patients receiving LCZ696 vs. 26.5% of patients receiving enalapril (p=0.0000002). Enalapril is a generic angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor.

The data were presented on Saturday at the European Society of Cardiology meeting in Barcelona and published in the New England Journal of Medicine. In March, Novartis stopped the trial early after an interim analysis showed LCZ696 met the primary endpoint, but at the time detailed data were not disclosed (see BioCentury Extra, March 31). ...