You will recall that clinical trials for the new drug LCZ696 (Paradigm-HF Trial, in which some of you may have participated) were halted early because of the outstanding results produced by the treatment

The study on more than 8,000 patients found that it saved some 20 per cent more lives than the current gold standard treatment which is the ACE inhibitor enalapril.

Professor John McMurray of the University of Glasgow, a co-leader of the trial said: - “Compared with our current gold-standard bedrock treatment enalapril, LCZ696 made patients live longer, stay out of hospital and feel better, fulfilling all our goals of treatment.  This is a remarkable finding, a major advance in the treatment of this terrible problem.”

The results have just been published in the New England Journal of Medicine and the manufacturer, Novartis, plans to apply for a license early next year, meaning LCZ696 could be available in 2015.

Source: The New England Journal of Medicine