LONDON — An experimental drug from Alnylam Pharmaceuticals substantially cut the risk of death and serious cardiovascular complications among patients with an increasingly diagnosed heart disease, likely teeing up the medicine to be a new option for patients, but one that will face competition from another treatment also nearing potential approval.
The full results from the Phase 3 HELIOS-B study, presented here Friday at the European Society of Cardiology’s annual meeting, bolstered the case that the drug, vutrisiran, can offer added benefits for patients with the progressive disease, known as ATTR-CM. Top-line data were released in June.
The trial tracked outcomes among patients on vutrisiran alone and among those taking it in combination with an older medication, finding that through three years it decreased the odds of death or cardiovascular crises by 33% and 28%, respectively, compared to placebo. That was the study’s primary endpoint, and Alnylam, which has said it sees vutrisiran as a blockbuster treatment, touted the drug’s success in also hitting the mark on all the secondary endpoints.
