Heart Failure Drug Shows Promise in Phase III Clinical Trial

Hospitalized heart failure patients who received the drug, serelaxin, in a phase III clinical trial had fewer disease symptoms and as a group experienced 37 percent fewer deaths over six months.

The results were presented Tuesday at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2012 in Los Angeles by John Teerlink, MD, co-principal investigator of the study.

“Current therapy for acute heart failure has remained unchanged for decades,” said Teerlink, a UCSF professor of medicine and director of the heart failure program at the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center. “Our findings suggest serelaxin holds promise as the first evidence-based therapy for acute heart failure to substantially improve patients’ symptoms and clinical outcomes, including death.”

Read more at the AHA’s website:

http://newsroom.heart.org/pr/aha/new-drug-may-hold-promise-for-240498.aspx