Novartis' investigational heart failure drug LCZ696 shows striking efficacy

Swiss drug major Novartis (NOVN: VX) on Saturday presented striking new data for its LZC696 heart drug at the European Society of Cardiology congress being held in Barcelona, Spain, and published simultaneously in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Novartis revealed that its investigational heart failure medicine, LCZ696, was superior to ACE-inhibitor enalapril on key endpoints in the largest heart failure study ever done. In PARADIGM-HF patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HF-REF) who were given LCZ696 were more likely to be alive and less likely to have been hospitalized for sudden deterioration of their heart failure than those given ACE-inhibitor enalapril1. Patients received LCZ696 or enalapril on top of current best treatment.

Known as an ARNI (angiotensin receptor neprilysin inhibitor), LCZ696 is thought to reduce the strain on the failing heart, promoting the ability of the heart muscle to recover.