Featured Story | By Fraiser Kansteiner Novartis had hoped its Entresto could find itself yet another niche, this time in patients who’d had a heart attack. But in late April, a large study found the heart failure drug couldn’t quite top widely used ACE inhibitor ramipril in those patients, at least in a statistically significant way. read more |
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Top Stories By Amirah Al Idrus Bristol Myers Squibb ponied up $13 billion for MyoKardia last fall, just months after it showed its targeted drug could prevent thickened heart muscle from blocking blood flow in patients with an inherited heart disorder. Now, the Big Pharma is unveiling more data from that phase 3 study, highlighting the drug’s effect on patients’ symptoms and quality of life. read more By Conor Hale The AI was more accurate in predicting severe cases than a panel of experts trained in echocardiograms, while the study also showed that the use of AI led to less variability between scans and readers. read more By Eric Sagonowsky Regeneron’s new med Evkeeza already sports an approval in the ultra-rare disease homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia, but it’s not expected to make a big splash, sales-wise. Now, though, the drug boasts new data that could support its case for a bigger indication—provided it can target the right patients. read more By Annalee Armstrong A 14-year-long partnership with Amgen is coming to an end this week, but Cytokinetics is pressing on to file the heart drug the two companies collaborated on to the FDA—in more of a supporting role than originally planned. read more By Conor Hale A quick detour during surgery to close off the left atrial appendage—a small pouch in the wall of the heart muscle where blood can pool and form clots—could help reduce the overall risk of stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation, researchers said. read more By Fraiser Kansteiner Bayer and J&J last year showed their legacy blood thinner Xarelto could help post-surgery patients in tough-to-treat artery disease. Now, the partners have data showing those benefits extend far beyond initial vascular complications. read more By Conor Hale While minimally invasive repair devices have shown progress in stemming leaks of the heart’s notoriously tricky tricuspid valve, Edwards Lifesciences aims to show that replacing the valve entirely could be a strong alternative. read more By Noah Higgins-Dunn AstraZeneca’s Farxiga may not have hit its marks in a COVID-19 trial, but it did well enough to keep trying, the study’s lead author said. On top of that, its performance on the safety side may help dispel doctors' fears that SGLT2 drugs could cause serious side effects in COVID-19 patients. read more By Conor Hale Device makers have been trying to prove they can treat stubbornly high blood pressure by toning down overactive nerves in the blood vessels around the kidneys. Now, with new clinical trial data, they're beginning to make headway. read more By Conor Hale Remember the FDA’s limits on paclitaxel-laden devices? Think again: An audit of nearly four years of Medicare data spanning more than 168,000 beneficiaries found no evidence of additional harm with balloons and stents coated with the chemotherapy drug compared to bare ones. read more | 