New heart drug saves lives

Procoralan® (ivabradine), a drug costing less than £10 a week has been proven to improve survival of patients with heart failure according to new research presented at the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) meeting.  The new research (SHIfT sudy*) showed that the drug, ivabradine, significantly reduced the risk of death from heart failure by 26%, and the risk of hospitalisation was also significantly reduced by 26%. The benefits were seen even though the heart failure patients were already taking currently recommended treatments.

 

Professor Martin Cowie, Consultant Cardiologist and specialist in heart failure at the Royal Brompton Hospital is the UK lead investigator for the study. He comments, “This evidence represents a significant clinical breakthrough in the management of heart failure and is incredibly important information for patients with this condition. We now know that more lives can be saved and improved simply by adding ivabradine to their current treatment in order to take some of the strain off the heart. It is vital that the results of this study are implemented and ivabradine is used as part of standard heart failure treatment as soon as possible. I will be ensuring that patients under my care are able to benefit as soon as possible.”

 

Expert Comment on New Heart Drugs

 

Commenting on the heart drug trial, Professor Avijit Lahiri says:

 

There are group differences in event rates, higher for Plavix than the trial drug Ticagrelor, I am certain that given the sample size this would become a significant difference, thus it can be surmised that there were more 'severe' patients in the Plavix arm, and so the question is - could these in some way alter the the balance of results?

 

I am certain that Plavix is not the ultimate treatment, and Ticagrelor appears more effective in this large clinical trial. It will be interesting to see how bleeding side effects pan out with increasing experience i.e. if it is more effective, there may also be greater bleeding. This side-effect was not shown in the present trial, which is a plus! Ticagrelor will be welcomed as an effective new treatment in ACS. It will also be useful to know whether the other non-bleeding side effects such as drug rash, are also reduced compared to Plavix.